Sorry for taking so long. I've been a little fractured... bits here, bits there and a few chunks elsewhere.
Originally posted by JR MacBeth
reply to post by masqua
Hi Masqua, looks like you've got the answers. Is there at least some "latitude" concerning profanity, when it comes to fiction?
Of course there's some latitude... as long as it doesn't go against the T&C's, and, in particular, this one:
1b.) Profanity: You will not use profanity in our forums, and will neither post with language or content that is obscene, sexually
oriented, or sexually suggestive nor link to sites that contain such content. You will also not use common alternative spellings or net-speak
alternative for profane words.
You'll note that profanity is associated, for the most part, by sexuality. It's an easy thing to seperate sexually-based words from the non-sexual.
Most non-sexual cussing, typed in full and correctly spelled, seems to be ignored by the censors. The only common one which IS caught has more to do
with 'poop' and 'crap' than sex and still stands... a word which, imho,
should be expunged from the censor list. Until it is, though, we're
stuck with it being banned from the site. It surprises me that the most common English word used when just about anything goes wrong is not
allowed.
Obviously, keeping profanity down in any civil discourse makes perfect sense. But when it comes to fiction, it seems like one might expect a
small break.
I agree to the point you're making but, as a moderator, I
must uphold the T&C's and promote the fact that they are universally applied
throughout the website. There is no specified relaxing of the rules in the Writing forums
Probably the best thing is to just read some of what is considered "acceptable". Any stories I could be directed to, that might help inspire
me on this issue? Perhaps others are doing a good job already, and are still managing to stay within the T&C.
I can't think of any off-hand and would have to do the same as any other member... dig through the hundreds of posted short stories to find a good
example. You know the words the censor acts upon, as I believe a large proportion of regular posters are also aware of them. There's not that many
included. On the other hand, the sheer volume of cussing that IS NOT handled by the censor is immense and what should be borne in mind, if you decide
to use some of them, is the abhorrance many hold with such terminology. One Complaint about a word and the result often is a mod edit and a red
warning flag. So... one has to choose carefully. If mom used to slap you on the backside for using them (like mine did), it likely wouldn't be a good
idea here.
An example that comes to mind is a Galactica-style substitution, such as "frake". But, that could probably be considered an attempt to
circumvent.
Actually, I've seen the term used and, afaik, nothing came of it. Remember that the most frequent initiator is often the membership itself, not staff.
We just don't have the time to read every post OR thread. I'd bet that while I'm typing off this post, literally dozens (if not a hundred) of posts
have been made. Now consider all the U2U's staff gets and you'd understand how busy most of us are.
But the one thing staff really DO react quickly to are the Alerts and Complaints.
So... the bottom line is: Don't consider the sensitivities of staff so much as that of the membership at large. They are the ones who are really in
charge, and the larger the membership grows, the more importance they will have in how well this website is moderated.
edit on 22/9/10 by masqua because: grammur
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