Vulgarity/swear words consistency: discussion

zoogs

zoogs

New member
http://www.huskerboard.com/index.php?/topic/46188-vulgarityswear-words-outside-of-the-woodshed/

First and foremost, let me say I have the utmost respect for the mods and the job they do. I know it's not easy being a MOD because I was one for two years on one of the largest gaming forums in the world, and it's tough to keep track of everything that goes on and make sure the board stays friendly for everybody involved. That said...

I noticed one MOD (or maybe multiple mods) are cracking down on vulgarity in posts. However, there have been some inconsistencies. For example, I posted this exact word (spelling and all) in the Taylor Martinez nickname thread - s@#t. In context, my nickname was "How about Taylor "He runs so fast I literally s@#t my pants" Martinez." A MOD edited my post to say "Taylor "He runs so fast" Martinez".

Later on in the thread, someone said "How about Taylor "Viagra" Martinez because you all pop b****s every time you see him", or something to that extent. The poster didn't put stars in the word like I did. Yet, this post doesn't get edited and is actually joked about by the other members.

Also, in an entirely separate thread, a MOD edited another post which he/she deemed sexually profane. So one comment is sexually profane but the other isn't?

Before posting this, I read the part of the Board Rules that talks about profanity. In no way shape or form do I want the MODS to start making a list of terms and phrases that are not allowed outside of the Woodshed, which is something the board rules eluded to if profanity or vulgar content became a problem. But, at the very least, there should be some type of understanding between the MODS as to what is and what isn't vulgar. I'm almost 99% sure a MOD had to have seen the b****r comment, because multiple MODs posted in the forum and other members of the board commented on the post.

In closing, let me say again I understand the job you guys do and how difficult it can be sometimes, and this is ADMINS included. My only real point for bringing this up is because, like I said, I'm almost 100% sure a MOD had to have seen this given the livelihood of the thread, yet it was kept up for some reason. If this is in fact not the case and a MOD or ADMIN genuinely did not see it, then I concede and apologize for wasting your time.

Thanks guys. And, again, keep up the good work.

P.S. - I know we're supposed to P.M. a MOD if we see something that needs to be edited (i.e. swearing), but I wanted post this here to bring attention to all of you guys instead of just one.
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I agree with this. I'm pretty lax on the vulgarity...as long as there's not too much of it, I usually let it slide. This board is still by far the most family friendly of any I've been on even with the occasional reference. If we were going ratings I think that would make it PG-13 and there's no need to try to trim it down to PG. Other boards are uninhibited in making it obvious that everyone's a adult. This board, for the most part, is different. We are all adults here mostly, but in a by and large tasteful way. I don't think a little censored swearing compromises this, and policing it sound both fruitless (you can't get 'em all) and a little suffocating.

With swearing, as long as it is censored, and not frequent or extreme, I think it is okay. Pissing matches obviously are not, as with people swearing at each other. But Enhance's "I s--- my pants" comment seems fine. And with other profanity, it's a tougher judgment call. I saw the boner comment but honestly never even gave it a second thought. That's my bad.

But we don't allow this and allow things like kc's avatar? (I forget the full username, but it's the one with the jiggling boobs that people always comment on). It's small so I usually let that slide, but one of the nice things about browsing Huskerboard over other forums is that you don't see huge images of barely clothed hot chicks in everyone's signature. That's an important aspect of 'family-friendly' and 'feeling comfortable browsing with anyone else around', IMO. The occasional "s---" (I've definitely done it myself)...I think that's fine...the occasional 'boner' or 'd!(k' references...I get that being not okay, although if it weren't against policy I don't know that I would fight hard to make it that way.

Thoughts?

 
The problem I see with swearing is this: We have a broad mix of members, some responsible and some not. Many not, in fact. If we allow the swearing to go unchecked, the envelope gets pushed further and further by the irresponsible, and suddenly you have a problem. We're not policing the board for the Enhances out there, we're doing it for the guys who will take it to the next level.

I've noticed an increase in swearing in the Husker Football forum with the expansion situation. I can't tell you how many posts I edited referring to the rest of the Big 12 "blowing" Texas. People see that crap and think it's OK to post their own version of it, and those who are not responsible enough to control themselves think it's permissible and suddenly we're really busy as a mod team.

Frankly, I think there should be zero tolerance for swearing of any kind, filtered or not, simply because of those who will continue to try and push it to see what they can get away with, who will only be encouraged to keep trying because they see someone else get away with it.

 
I tend to just gloss over it. And am guilty of the same infraction at times too. I guess a united front and stick with it is the way to go. Either allow it or police it up completely, IDK

.02 I would rather HB not become like allpuffs or netpuffs or bevisshaggers :D

 
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IMO, it's too damn hard to police the entire board and we aren't going to catch everything. I let most things slide, but there are times when it gets ridiculous and they need to be censored.

 
I think we have two issues here - profanity verses vulgarity. What I mean by that is that profanity to me is cursing - and those should be taken care of using the Banned Words filter. If someone comes up with a profane word, and the filter doesn't catch it, post it HERE and I'll get it added to the list. In other words, the Boad itself should catch words and phrases we don't want to permit - and substitute what we put in there.

Vulgarity, conversely, is more the effect of the words. For example, we don't want someone to post "Texas cheerleaders can suck my d!(k." Well, the words suck and d!(k won't be in the filter - the former can be used in non-vulgar ways, and the latter is also a proper name. But the sentence creates a kind of posting we don't really want. Those will have to be delt with by editing the post to change or remove it, then informing the poster what was done and why.

 
Just so I'm clear, this is OK, right? Or is this vulgar?

LINK

Also check the post following the post to which I linked.

This is an example of what I'm talking about in my post above - the slippery slope we get on when we allow "some" swearing. No, it's not a big deal that someone called someone else a "d!(k" or that Okie said "a$$-munki." The problem lies when this isn't stopped, then the next guy thinks it's OK and pushes it a little bit further, then the next guy does the same, and so on.

Can someone explain to me why we need to swear in our posts? I'm not understanding this.\

Out of curiosity, can the guy who edited THIS POST say why it was edited?

 
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knapplc said:
Just so I'm clear, this is OK, right? Or is this vulgar?

LINK

This is an example of what I'm talking about in my post above - the slippery slope we get on when we allow "some" swearing. No, it's not a big deal that someone called someone else a "d!(k" or that Okie said "a$$-munki." The problem lies when this isn't stopped, then the next guy thinks it's OK and pushes it a little bit further, then the next guy does the same, and so on.

Can someone explain to me why we need to swear in our posts? I'm not understanding this.\
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I'd say it's fine. To me, at least, it seems clear that those posts are from two guys having fun with each other. I think that when this happens, and it isn't clear whether it's friends kidding or if it's the start of a flame ware, we PM the posters and ask. If it's the former, we can let it go. If the latter, we tell them to take it to the Woodshed and keep a look out for further jabs between them.

No, there's no need for swearing in posts - if you can't express your opinion without it, you don't have an opinion - you have emotion. However, I don't think we can entirely stamp out the use of profanities. It think we need to look at whether the use constitutes either personal attacks or constitutes vulgarity. We have a membership that consists, primarily, of younger males. I don't think we can let it devolve to the level of locker-room status, but we can let some stuff pass.

knapplc said:
Also check the post following the post to which I linked.

Out of curiosity, can the guy who edited THIS POST say why it was edited?
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I can't say - I didn't do it. And to be honest, I wouldn't have done it. I'm assuming the word that was changed was "b!^@h", and it was used in the sense of "complain." Personally, I don't have a problem with it, and to your earlier point, I can see why Bob used it - the use of "b!^@h" gives his intent a little more emphasis, in that he's using it as a kind of admonition to people to not "whine." In that case, the use of "b!^@h" is more effective - and oddly enough, less confrontational - than had it used "whine." And it placed more emphasis that a lot of the complaining is silly at this stage and considering the kind of complaining that's taken place.

Guys, we can't come up with a set of clear-cut rules on this unless it's to say, "No profanity," which I personally think is being a bit too draconian. Again, the way I'd handle it is to do something if it looks like a personal attack or if it raises images of vulgarity.

Now, it could be that I'm way off base here, but I think we might want to err on that side first, and then crack down if we see a marked increase that we feel makes the Board less than family-friendly. But on a site like this, I think some profanity is inevitable. Again, the issue is the way it's used as much as anything.

 
Hmm, I edited that one. I saw 'b!^@h' as a swear that the censor should have caught even though I didn't mind the use of the word. I guess I felt I was too lax on catching these usually and overcompensated in an attempt to present a more united front from the mods.

There was also a line, "WEE BE BITCHES!!!" that I took out.

 
Just cause ur a b!^@h zoogs :laughpound must be that time of the month j/k

Damn I hate it when AR is such a logical voice of reason, when most attorneys are just butt munches :dunno

I agree, we can't go puritanical but can't let it go XXX either. :hmmph

GBR

 
AR Husker Fan said:
Now, it could be that I'm way off base here, but I think we might want to err on that side first, and then crack down if we see a marked increase that we feel makes the Board less than family-friendly. But on a site like this, I think some profanity is inevitable. Again, the issue is the way it's used as much as anything.
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I think it's safe to say that I'm on the board FAR more than the rest of the staff, and I started cracking down more on swearing because I saw a marked increase since the Big 10 announcement, as I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing a major increase in response across the Mod team, and frankly, I don't feel like making every single judgment call. That's why we're having this conversation right now - Enhance got miffed that his post was edited (justifiably), but that the word "boner" was allowed in another post.

I disagree that some profanity is inevitable. I'm a member of several other boards where there is no swearing allowed, period. Most of them are larger than HuskerBoard and have far more traffic. It's not necessary to swear in your posts and all it takes is consistent policing for a few months on the part of the whole Mod team and people will learn.

Having said that, I'm not going to cause waves if people want to allow swearing on the board. I'll follow the rules the majority of us want, and I'll stop editing the posts and PMing people like I've been doing. The most important thing is to present a united front and have consistent application of the rules. I just don't see how we can be consistent when each of us has to rely on our personal judgment on what is or isn't "vulgar."

 
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