vulgarities and word censors

In the course of posting on here we become emotional and heated and ocassionaly we let loose a vulgarity. While this normally isn't a problem as we have words censors there seems to be a growing trend of those who seem to insist on working around those censors. This behavior is not tolerable by any stretch of the imagination as it breaks one of the board's rules.

As outlined by the rules of this board and more specifically this one as outlined in the Terms and Conditions of Use of this board...

4.) 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. This applies to material posted to collaborative fiction and member short story forums.

This is a rule everyone signed off on when they joined and everyone is expected to follow this rule just like any other rule set forth in the terms and conditions of use on this board. while we have tried to be some what tolerant of this some people have not "gotten it" yet so we are having to enforce this rule more.

This and all the other rules of terms and conditions of use can be found at the following link:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

This is not a new rule by any means and rather than punishing you we prefer you simply abide by the very simple rule of not using vulgarities nor attempting to circumvent the censors we have in place.

In the interim of a new button being created to help correct this problem one of the three current buttons may be used on repeat or serious offenders (the rules still apply to everyone but we are less concerned about ocassional use of vulgarties), one liner, big quote and the big warn button itself. So if you get any of the preceeding warnings and not sure why then ask us in a U2U.


If you have any questions feel free to post them here.

[edit on 12-7-2004 by ThePrankMonkey]

Question One: So what is the whole deal with the "turn off censors" thing in the ATS store - I've been just trying to save and figured it did what it says with regards to profanity....so what's up with this? Am I getting a mixed message here?

Question Two: And also, just to add my own opinion on the subject at hand...I, like many others, withhold from using profanity in two situations - around my parents and around little kids - with the occasional slip...Is ATS banning this inherent "ocassional slip?" Some people here clearly don't review what they've decided to post after their fingers blazed over the keyboard to get their message across to others, and it's possible that they could do a typo like "siht" - and they may do it multiple times in a single post...(Just as an example), and then have they not only bypassed the censors but they've maybe pissed off a moderator...but dosn't it fall under the same category as "the occasional slip" to a certain degree, at least in an online presence...

Question Three: And another thing....we all live in different countries....I say shag and I think Austin Powers, others...not quite....Is this strictly American profanity? What if I get cursed out in German by someone - I can read it and be offended by it, but not all the moderators can....nor can they truly rely on a translation from the one being insulted...

Question Four: The use of ** must be out, but I see it all over the boards, and that's the only reason I started to do it myself - I figured it was accepted - I think it would be unfair to punish people who currently use that for a substitute unless they can admit to having read this post, don't you? A sort of warning without the warning....

Other than those questions, and maybe a few more as I ponder over this, I agree with the ATS policies, I just question their overall scope and enforcment abilities...

EDIT: Double Post

[edit on 7/13/2004 by EnronOutrunHomerun]

no those who can handle can turn them off but in general vulgarities should not be used as it is not acceptable to everyone's standards and as a result we have such a rule in place. this is done so we discuss talk and debate, not pepper our discussions with language that quite frankly does not serve to further ones cause, geting others to learn and take them seriously.


no the ocassional slip isnt being banned but repeat and purposely offensive posts will treated with less tolerance than before.


as for 3 someone above me needs to answer that, i just enforce rules i dont set the policies and the subtle nuances of them. i would think that shag would be ok but cursing in any language would be frowned upon. of course who going to use the phrase "go shag yourself" or "thats unshaggingbelievable!"

for point number 4. asterisks are out, its a circumventing of the censors and is considered a no no. when you type the word out as it is is spelled the censors take care of the rest, such as removing it completely or changing it into a less offensive word. people dont like that so they work around those by using asterisks and underscores. its blatant circumventing. but again, the person who does this on a rare ocassion more than likely gets a "you shouldnt do that" kind of warning whereas the person who goes out of their way to do this on a regular basis is the person we're going after truthfully. it only brings the board down ultimately and we should all raise, not lower our standards.


everything will be looked at on a case by case basis.

[edit on 13-7-2004 by ThePrankMonkey]

I think that breaking the censors is a little stupid, but I have always seen it as this: If you don't like reading curse words then don't turn off the censors. I can understand that on ATSNN, and other highly viewed sections, the rules could be tightened, but otherwise I think that we should have freedom of expression......to some degree.

Thanks PM - that answers my questions, which like I said, were more insights into possible flaws than a disagreement with ATS policy

I'm still a little perplexed tho by the whole "turn off censors" thing tho....you say it's for people who "can handle it", but if the entire idea behind this ATS policy is to keep people from using profanity, then what place does this have as some special feature that can be activated with the appropriate amount of points? - it seems to me as tho it's almost flashed about as if some kind of reward

And what's to keep a little kid on ATS to go and utilize that option...not that ATS is riddled with sailor's mouths, but it would let them see more than they would have without it on....

It doesn't make sense to me to have this option - most profanity that has been omitted by the censors can be "filled in" by the reader by just analyzing the context of the statement, in which case, the people who do this are most likely capable of "handeling it." It seems like a set back to me that will just keep some people running in circles...

There a few things on ATS, regarding its policies that I feel should be a lott clearer to new members...like the time stamp on message posts that always confuses people and causes multiple posts of the same question...I've put this in the "suggestion box" but I never heard a reply back...is there anyway you can pass this idea on...maybe an update of the FAQs and tutorials and maybe a few more links to popular questions in the ATS welcome U2U, or maybe even a new forum just for FAQs (Board Questions just doesn't seem to cut it for some people and may not be clear enough of a title, sadly to say), so that people with enough common sense don't have to post the same thing a million times...sorry to get off topic, or to appear to be ranting, but it is important and somewhat related and I never get an answer from anyone...

[edit on 7/13/2004 by EnronOutrunHomerun]

I do it a lot. . I try not to anymore. Sorry

There's actually another issue at work here -- and it has to do with the quality of posting. if you've hung around boards for awhile, you'll notice that the boards where profanity is frequently used tends to have a higher "noise to signal" ratio (less information, more ranting and cussing and dis-cussing.)

The boards where people keep their language in check tend to be those with better discussions and better information.

It's so easy for UFO/conspiracy boards to be dismissed as paranoid sites full of lunatics. Encouraging good discussion while discouraging bad language, snarky one-liner responses, and other things that degrade the good information that so many have worked so hard to build.

Originally posted by earthtone
I think that we should have freedom of expression......to some degree.

Please review this:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The issue is complex, and has become more complex since the option to turn off censors appeared in our store. And freedom of expression has nothing to do with vulgar words. Any thought can easily be expressed without them.

as I said before...on another post,

we are guests here. Period. The Admins & Mods are doing a job. We have the opinion of staying, or going, but we do not hold complaints up to the "Court of Public Opinion".

*gets off of soapbox*

OK i rarely use profanity, but i can tend to use it in stories and collaborative ficiton in dialouge. i usually alwaks put a * or something so that people get the jist of it, but i dont use it to a great extent. if this is a big problem, ill change, but im just trying to see if im about to get warned or banned!

Originally posted by ladyspiritguide
as I said before...on another post,

we are guests here. Period. The Admins & Mods are doing a job. We have the opinion of staying, or going, but we do not hold complaints up to the "Court of Public Opinion".

*gets off of soapbox*

I don't know if you are referring to my previous post ladyspiritguide, but if you are, it was merely a suggestion....which has gone unnoticed and unanswered yet again......I feel like I'm coming off sour here but all I'm really doing is making a suggestion that I think should be taken seriously and everytime I do that it goes ignored by the mods....if anyone's questioning why I'm ranting, then read my last post....I think it makes perfect sense but no mods have touched on my last point in that post...in multiple threads at that!

Sometimes profanity comes with the way you are raised, my parents did not used profanity at home and we were prohibited to use it, I learned to use it after I got married.

But some young people now a day use it like everyday way of expresion. And society have become tolerant of it.

I don't know if you are referring to my previous post ladyspiritguide, but if you are, it was merely a suggestion....which has gone unnoticed and unanswered yet again......I feel like I'm coming off sour here but all I'm really doing is making a suggestion that I think should be taken seriously and everytime I do that it goes ignored by the mods....if anyone's questioning why I'm ranting, then read my last post....I think it makes perfect sense but no mods have touched on my last point in that post...in multiple threads at that!

actually-no I wasn't really.

I spend my time between several Disucssion Boards, and I just had returned last night after watching a spat at another board. It used to be a real good one too.

Now, people spend so much time baiting & trolling, it has lost a lot of good people. Some of the members, blame the Admins, and then Admins take sides (being only Human, I guess)

so, no, nothing personal.

Ok - - sorry ladyspiritguide - I agree, it's sad when that starts to happen - it's even worse in chat rooms....

Just a note on the side - I took my arguement of this elsewhere so as to not clutter this thread - if you think, or don't think, that the FAQ and tutorials should be updated, go here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by SimonGray


The issue is complex, and has become more complex since the option to turn off censors appeared in our store. And freedom of expression has nothing to do with vulgar words. Any thought can easily be expressed without them.

Yeh I agree, but everyone does it every now and then. I totally concour that arguments can be presented without the use of bad language, it isn't neede you are right, and if a member incresingly uses bad language really stupidly again and again then they should be punished, but I think alot of members on this board are adult enough to be able to moderate their curse words.