Banning People for NOT Swearing???

[Zincwarrior]

Damn it I swear to not swear!

 

[Delldude]

It has always been made clear the rules are whatever the mods say they are whenever the mods say what they are.
No change.

He who has the gold makes the rules.

 

[toobfreak]

Who changed the programming of the site? That's quite recent.

It all seemed to happen during the episode where the entire site went down for hours due to exceeding its plan limit.

 

[Delldude]

It all seemed to happen during the episode where the entire site went down for hours due to exceeding its plan limit.


View attachment 1226671

A week or so ago middle of the night?

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Fornicating-A, man!!

 

[toobfreak]

The admins did. Their word is law around here.

I'm not sure I entirely buy that, TK. I mean, maybe they tell you that, but I wonder if it doesn't come from even higher up, from group owners, the server owner or Cloudflare?

I read recently your comment of news "trickling down" to you mods and I found that a bit disappointing. As a moderator, I would have hoped that such stuff was held with ALL staff members in attendance, if not to give FB, to at least sit in, in real time. I mean, we are not running some big corporation here.

I just wonder how it will be handled to OTOH, "ban all profanity" while the programmed filter only takes SOME profane words out? Does that make the unblocked profane words OK? Does saying a bad word get you in trouble even if it is blocked out with asterisks? I just don't get the part about banning people (including perma-bans?) just for using familiar colloquial idioms like folks have used all their lives to "soft cuss" like saying stuff like "no fricking way." Did I just commit a bannable offense? I really need to know because that is my natural way of speaking. The stated rule is way too vague on the matter.

I come here for casual dialog, not post-graduate math and theory, to relax, so I like to use a lot of contractions like saying I kinda like this, or you are gonna never know---- familiar language, which includes saying stuff now listed as being bannable, even though it is not even a swear word, a "polite" swear word, meant for camaraderie, not to "get around or defeat a filter."

I really don't think whoever dreamed up this latest debacle totally thought it through, which I find a disappointing lack of consideration for its members considering the site asks me to financially support it.

 

[Delldude]

Just think if you have Touretts syndrome......can you get a Doctors excuse?

 

[toobfreak]

Not questioning, just clarifying.........
Does this mean that when Trump cusses he can't be quoted?

Worse still, this site now precludes the posting of pictures of Rashid Tlaib.

TO BE CLEAR, my reason for posting this thread is NOT to be deliberately pedantic, I am asking important and necessary questions because once again, we are presented with another arcane rule which is entirely vague and subject to interpretation instead of being clear and well-defined. It leaves people really not knowing WHAT to do or not to do when a rule becomes "subject to interpretation." Worse, I'm fuzzy on just what all of this balderdash is supposed to accomplish? It should NOT take so many rules just to run a discussion board. I'm not sure we even needed this rule at all.

 

[Bitterhook]

Color me confused.

First of all, the stated reason for banning "cuss" words is IMO, a misguided one, because it is not the WORDS that lead various threads down the crooked path, but the PEOPLE. Forcing people to use nice words won't change the direction or content of anything, but then, I just wrote a textbook on psychology, so what would I know?

OK, but how do you know a word is banned? Without some list or guide, apparently you won't know until you hit POST and a word comes up ****** instead, but this is where I get confused; I just scanned the current rules and it says this:

Foul language (profanity) will not be permitted on the boards. The site is programmed to censor such language (with these, ******) automatically. Any attempt to bypass the filter by deliberately misspelling banned words or using special characters (such as !, @, $, or *) will result in a warning and a note. Failure to adhere to this rule will result in temporary bans, if not permanent, depending on the severity.

When I joined this forum, I spoke respectfully, but got hammered to death with insults and vulgarity. The viewpoint by mods then was calling people names was just fine so long as you contributed to the topic. I finally began cussing back (I'm a great cusser) just to hold my own with many posters. This was a failure of moderation.

But often especially in the last couple of years, I would try to temper my language by misspelling words or adding ASCII characters so people knew what I meant without actually saying it, like saying no farking way, get the f@%k outta here. Mind you, no swearword was used.

But if I am to read your rule above (blue lettering) it is now a WORSE CRIME NOT TO SWEAR than it is to just keep swearing and let the system auto bleep it out! Is that true?

Who determines that a misspelled word or a non-swear word was a "deliberate attempt to bypass a filter?" If it isn't a swear word, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?

If I make up words or use characters to AVOID SWEARING, instead of being rewarded for clean language, do you really intend to declare them "an attempt to bypass the filter" and ban people for NOT swearing? I just need to hear from someone in an official capacity which is better, to jumble words to avoid actually saying a no-no, or to continue saying bad words and letting the system completely bleep it out?

You folks really need to be clear about this ambiguity for yet another half-baked crazy idea which will again fail to effect any positive change whatsoever (but to further drop donations and membership farther still), but every time this topic comes up, the thread is always closed before anyone can ask the right questions or get the needed clarification.

So which is it? Do you folks really want people to keep cussing so the system can ****** it out instead of just making up words which are no bad word at all?

Because the language of your rules states that it is a BANNABLE OFFENSE now to make up unoffensive words to AVOID swearing.

And that fails to even cover ACTUAL SWEARING and swearwords which are not on the ban-list? So it is OK to cuss and swear if the words are not banned by the programming? Because I've already seen a LOT of dirty words which folks can still say. So apparently according to the brilliantly worded rule above, it is now a worse offense NOT to swear by deliberately altering words to non-swear words than it is to ACTUALLY CUSS words that don't get blanked out?

You people really have opened a deep can of worms.

Now we can pretend we are on a high school debate team trying to impress someone with our intellect.

 

[toobfreak]

It has always been made clear the rules are whatever the mods say they are whenever the mods say what they are.
No change.

Yeah, I know, but that raises the point: why then the need for so many narrow rules? You could simply make the rule, "be civil and respectful." Then if you think someone cusses too much, I'd simply PM them and tell them they need to tone down the incivility please--- you don't need to define EVERY KIND OF INCIVILITY POSSIBLE each as a separate rule if rules are fluid and changing.

 

[Bitterhook]

Yeah, I know, but that raises the point: why then the need for so many narrow rules? You could simply make the rule, "be civil and respectful." Then if you think someone cusses too much, I'd simply PM them and tell them they need to tone down the incivility please--- you don't need to define EVERY KIND OF INCIVILITY POSSIBLE each as a separate rule if rules are fluid and changing.

They were tired of getting the rear ends handed to them in a most appropriate manner.

 

[toobfreak]

why dont that administrator come on here and tell us why it was done instead of being like jones and running afterwards?..

If rules were better conceived, more clearly written and explained, there'd be no need for all these questions.

 

[Delldude]

It leaves people really not knowing WHAT to do or not to do when a rule becomes "subject to interpretation.

You brought up an excellent point. Aside from Tlaib, have you seen the dem midterm ads? They're all about F Trump.....and then there's recent photo ops with them F-ing this and F-ing that to the point the media has to bleep it out.
The dems are making this kind of language an accepted norm.

* Equal time rule, yes I've heard Trump say it a couple times *

 

[Bitterhook]

why dont that administrator come on here and tell us why it was done instead of being like jones and running afterwards?..

No one wants to talk about how their Victoria's Secret Spring Collection got all knotted up.

 

[Delldude]

Ah ha..... it's a diabolical plot to raise server cash.

 

[cnm]

He who has the gold makes the rules.

I gave some. I wasn't consulted.

 

[Bitterhook]

Ah ha..... it's a diabolical plot to raise server cash.

View attachment 1226689

I had a swear jar on the fridge, it was awesome, and I managed to raise/save enough money to buy a nice boat.

Of course it wasn't hard, seeing as spending a Saturday evening on the back porch drinking beer and talking trash with friends around the smoker added quite a lot. I was not seriously interested in keeping count and would just apply the $200 preemptive deposit. I might have still gone over the limit but figured out it was not helping me stop swearing as much as it was helping me save some money.

 

[sparky]

I mean, maybe they tell you that, but I wonder if it doesn't come from even higher up, from group owners, the server owner or Cloudflare?

>>

~S~

 

[cnm]

Yeah, I know, but that raises the point: why then the need for so many narrow rules? You could simply make the rule, "be civil and respectful." Then if you think someone cusses too much, I'd simply PM them and tell them they need to tone down the incivility please--- you don't need to define EVERY KIND OF INCIVILITY POSSIBLE each as a separate rule if rules are fluid and changing.

Umm...muddled thinking and institutional inertia?

 

[Chuz Life]

I like the idea of having areas for more respectful debate. . . and I feel like the mods have been more than patient with me so far.

I am exactly the same person here on USMB that I am at home or anywhere else. I speak the same here as anywhere else as well.

The way I look at it is, "If I'm to be banned for that? Then so be it."

It's your/ their website, and if I'm not welcome to be myself, I don't want to be involved in it at all.