Summary:

• @[email protected] was posting at a high volume to [email protected]
• there is no written rule on [email protected] about post volume
• there is no written rule on ponder.cat about post volume
• !news is the one single community Cat was this active in
• !news has no ponder.cat mods
• from my understanding, all rules Cat did break were unrelated to volume (correct me if I am wrong)
• ponder.cat admin @[email protected] reaches out to Cat via comment and then DM essentially threatening account deletion if Cat doesn’t lower their activity level
• Cat understandably deletes their account because who wants that

Of course, PhilipTheBucket had the right to do this, but I also think it’s exceedingly bad form and people have a right to know that this admin is willing to go above the community mods’ head like that.

Internet etiquette has dictates for dealing with undesirable yet not rule-breaking behavior that was just ignored here. Communication should be chosen before simple fist waving and threats.

I agree with this comment that this is a bait-provoked reaction. Next time I recommend:

• at the instance/admin level, the creation of instance rules about volume
• at the community level, advocacy for community rules about volume (i.e. “[Meta] Petition: Limit daily submissions to !news to ensure community quality”)
• avoid personal slapfights to get your way
• avoid escalation directly to account termination threats

Source: https://ponder.cat/post/1731587