It's a separate thread for each user or group you have. These bots come in as a new contact and thread. So no. Never in the middle of a preexisting conversation. I got one once, 2-3 years ago now. It was immediately apparent like this one. I just reported and blocked them.
Any time somone does something "for the children", you have to examine it with a microscope. Age gates aren't the best solution here. And force users to truly identify themselves online with actual IDs. It's a first step toward a privacy and censorship nightmare.
The right way to protect kids here is to hold the companies accountable for their recommendation algorithms. That's largely what makes these services so toxic for people. Kids included.
That seems totally reasonable to me. "We'll stop fighting, and let you have what you stole. But if you attack again at all, it'll be a very different kind of fight for you. In the long run, you'll probably have lost more than you gained by pulling this bullshit."
The thing is, nothing is permanent in an absolute sense. (Maybe logic, but that's about it)
So in a world where everything changes, what does permanent mean? It can only mean reasonably mean, "without predetermined end." Not that it won't end, because everything does eventually.
So Temporary must be that which does have predetermined end time.
Since Provisional does not have a predetermined end, but does include an explicit indication of eventually ending, it is both permanent and temporary.
You made this thread to ask a question, got answered.
Not really. A couple of people tried to answer it. One did quite well. You and yours are all simply saying I'm wrong, and my question is invalid; Simply because for your entire life I imagine, Ban has always been used this way. But some 20 or 30 years ago, I can promise you (so can a few others here) it wasn't that way.
Here is a little bit of muddiness. If there is no clearly defined end of something, is it permanent, or temporary? I would argue, since nearly everything changes and virtually nothing is permanent in an absolute sense; Permanent can only reasonably mean, no predetermined end time. Hunger has no defined amount of time. It may in fact last until death, making it quite permanent from the point of view of the individual experiencing it. So hunger in fact would, for the purpose of a definition, be permanent.
That's not my claim. It's also a dodge to my question.
But it got me thinking.
Provisional: for the present time but likely to change
No specified ending date or condition, but also temporary. That may be the closest to what you're looking for.
Ban makes it immediately known what you are talking about - because it is widely used. Suspension - people need to have a short “think”.
I'm claiming the reverse. In fact I specifically said so in my original post.
A Suspension immediately means temporary. A Ban may or may not. You need to look further to find out.
Sort of. I thought that for a long time also, because that's the way reddit worked for years.
But some people didn't like that people they blocked could still see and comment on their stuff without their knowledge. So it became a real block.
My original question wasn't about changing anything at this point. It was about when and why this change in usage happened.
But with all the push back saying I'm actually wrong, I've instead been forced into a place where I have to defend the dictionary.
I'm not arguing for a new standard. I'm saying there was a standard, and somehow we got off it; And are now we're in a place of ambiguity.
Reason ... Able. Something that is able to be reasoned. It has nothing to do fair.
Honestly. Deserving and Fair, are privileged naive ideas to bring to war.