Swearing in notes!

Please don’t block the notes with swearing. Users can ask for folks not to swear on their entries, and block them if they don’t respect the space, but I don’t like a nanny state where moderators are deciding what language I’m allowed to use.

Would there be a method to “opt in” for those that may not want swear words in their notes? I agree that since OD will now be a subscription site, we should be able to act like adults and deal with it. If someone gets out of line, they get reported to you for action.

Hmm. I swear like a navvy myself but I can see the argument for not allowing swearing in notes, so as not to offend diarists who feel strongly about the use of such language. However, as you say, we are all adults here; if someone says anything I don’t like in a note to me, I am entitled to delete it. So, if someone swears in a note on my diary and that offends me, I can delete the note – or even specify on my front page/profile bit that I prefer people not to swear on my diary. For what it’s worth, then, I would prefer to leave it for individual diarists to censor their diaries as they see fit, rather than imposing mass censorship as a default. (It wouldn’t bother me if I couldn’t swear in notes, though – as long as I can eff and blind at will in my diary posts! 😉)

I would like to see an option where diarists can choose whether to have it in their notes or not. It’s easy to delete any note that offends you or even block someone who is being inappropriate. Like aimalyn says above, a nanny state here at OD would not be preferable.

I personally don’t think swearing ” really” bad words should be condoned on notes. Why can’t they make them private, then? I like everyone and I am NO ONE’s judge, it’s just a respect thing. Have a private convo then and issue solved. I remember things being censored on OD before. I don’t want to make this too long, but, I just have to be honest and I don’t like the very bad, heavy duty 4-letter , swear words . I hope this makes sense , I didn’t want to make it too long, and I understand the issue of subscription-only, so some people who don’t want swearing also pay, so, what now? lol.

*waves* Haaaaaay there Mr. DM! I feel like this was written Just. For. Lil’. Ol’. Moi! I feel special, oh so special . . .

Here’s my take on it FWIW:

Users can act like adults and take their cues from the nature of language used in entries. If you don’t see *ugly words* in entries don’t use *ugly words* in notes. Should someone not pick up on the subtlety of context, it can politely be pointed out to them. Should they choose to continue to disrespect the linguistic practices of the diarist they are reading, they get the ban hammer and are blocked. In short (too late!): We police our own commenters. This has worked quite nicely for me in the wild, wild west of Facebook.

For those who are especially sensitive to Certain Words (pretty sure there are 7 on Carlin’s list) create an option to approve or disapprove comments that diarists can opt in to or out of.

We ALL need to agree that The N Word is never, ever, E-V-E-R acceptable for use by white people. Ever. Never. It is our “No No Never Word”. Ever.

I agree with not having the notes with swearing blocked. We can delete offensive notes and block problematic users. That should be sufficient control, in my opinion.

Don’t block notes with swearing, let the owner of that particular diary choose whether it should be posted or not.

Is there a way for us as diarists to “hide” or make private an uncomfortably expressive note from someone? Personally, I am not normally offended by colorful language, but members of my family, including my mother and young nieces, do read my journal at times. I love my friends here, and want them to always speak freely. I would not always want to block anyone from leaving a note,(unless of course they are attacking and hateful) but neither do I want my family or those who are more sensitive to feel uncomfortable to come in and visit.

If I could simply edit by making private/hide some notes from public view, would that be a possibility?

Well shirt, that’s a forking pickle for sure. (Sorry, been watching The Good Place, where swearing is also and hilariously prohibited)

How is the imported backup affected? Did old entries lose notes because of profanity-protection? Please don’t fork with my archive, that shirt’s gold.Kinda conflating “swearing” and “attacking” there. If I’m observing that seeing @lawhussy about is forking awesome, I don’t think anybody’s going to perceive an attack even if they object to my wording. Some people won’t want to see profanity, others don’t care. Which means make it a choice. Users can pick if they want to see it/have it moderated (if you want to offer that as service)/avoid it . You can, if it’s sufficiently amusing, also just apply a span around the bad word/note and webfont it to a “placeholder” with the bars. Then someone who cares can highlight if they want to read and leave the “bleep”marks if not. Something like this might be a way to allow the more prim to coexist with the more vim among us.

I expect mature behavior from noters. It is a shame you have to monitor this. You have my blessing and my thanks for your efforts but I am sure some few will not be happy.These will be the vocal ones.

IMHO the setting should be left to the user. This would be possible, yes? The first note (Aimalyn) correctly states that she doesn’t like a “Nanny State” I agree. That said, there is a big diff between setting a four letter word loose and a verbal attack on someone – at which point I’d hope someone would step in.

I would vote for *not* blocking or censoring swear words. When I leave comments on FB, I have a good sense whether the original poster would be someone I can cuss with or not (is it my mom or is it my bawdy best friend?). If the note crosses a line, that can be reported and dealt with on a case by case basis.

I would say no. If I have a problem with somebody harassing me, then I will report it, but I think swear words are themselves valid words that can convey a specific thing (although I wouldn’t say I go out of my way to use them, nor would I casually drop them in a note in somebody I don’t know well).

I’m old, I don’t care. When I was younger some simple swear words were everyday things in my vocabulary. For the last 34 years, I have made a concerted effort to not use these words as the lovely man I live with doesn’t like them.

PS: At last, everything works smoothly but access to the one close friend who set her diary on private. Thank you for the solution.

I think my first concern – which you might not share – is that automatically blocking anything is going to put you at the center of an outrage storm at some point. I mean no offense to the multitudes of cool people on OD when I say: if the past is any measure, disappearing notes + a missed dose or two of necessary meds = “The DM is satan!”

Other than that, I’ve been called a lot of things on OD, but f*****g d******d in my notes isn’t one of them. I’d bet that the ten or twenty most vitriolic notes I’ve ever seen on OD did not include swearing. To me it seems like naughty words are mostly used to express (as opposed to insult) here.

Don’t block swear words… I hate being sensored.

I don’t personally like swearing in notes but I don’t want to take away from others. Could we make cursing in notes automatically private?

Wtf?

I love me some blue language. It’s the spice that can punch up some dreary writing (or commenting). Besides, as many said before me, there are far more ways to be hurtful and troll-y without the usual swears. And it would be nearly impossible to police the ever-evolving language of insult and hurt.

I know we have the option to delete notes, report notes, and block offenders. I am certainly not afraid to slam a KA-BLOCK on a disrespectful cretin or report someone who is harassing myself or others. So I think we all ready have good options to police our own diaries without your moderators needing to intervene (unless specifically requested).

Thanks for asking!

Could a language filter be implemented?

I like the idea of letting each person decide if they want to allow swearing in their notes or not.

What about swear words being converted into some from of alternate text to mask the word but not remove it.

It doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve learned to ignore much of what I don’t like. I’m smart enough to know where and where not to swear so I can respect another person’s rights. I have the right to delete what I find offensive in my own diary.

Swearing, please! 

It would be good to have an opt out feature for diarists who don’t want swearing in their notes, but it shouldn’t be a blanket ban. We’re allowed to swear in verbal conversations with our friends, I don’t feel that notes should be any different. I also disagree with suggestions that a note with swearing should automatically be made private, unless a diarist has specified this for their own note, or on their own diary. I don’t want my friends’ notes to be hidden on my diary for something I have no issue with.

I don’t care for swear words, but I think as adults we shouldn’t be censored. We can delete any note that we don’t appreciate, swearing or otherwise!

I can’t see why people would need to swear in a note. The site should at least provide the user with a checkbox to prevent swearing appearing of they want. A strict option and loose option. If it could ask the note writer to rephrase and post again that would be useful.

In order of preference

1) do NOT censor.

2) give diarists the option of allowing or not.

3) use the technology to NOT block notes, but to replace the offending words with*%!s#. this is done successfully in WoW , users can select to allow or not cussing, if not allowed words are replaces with *%!s#.

I do believe the current system of manually reviewing / rejecting notes will get too cumbersome, time consuming, and controversial (on sites where moderators intervene in such, there is ALWAYS complaints about the moderators, i.e. a thankless task).

Well, I personally think it should be left up to the diarist themselves whether or not to allow swearing. I, personally, swear a lot. Maybe not as often in my posts but I swear non the less. I wouldn’t care if someone swore in my notes and I don’t care that someone swears in their posts. Honestly, if you know that someone swears a lot in their posts, chances are they are going to do the same on notes they leave. I usually go according to the persons I am leaving a note on. If I know that they are offended by foul language, chances are I will not swear on their page but then again, if they get offended that much, they are probably not one of my friends. Soooo… yes, leave it to the diarist.

I think swear filters is the way to go. Other sites have used them with great success…. so if someone’s filter is on they’ll see s**t or f**k instead of the offensive word. Give the person who owns the diary the option to choose if they want that on their forum or not.

I would be happy never to see another swear word for as long as I live, but that’s not going to happen in this life. I like the idea of the diarist being able to opt into a “replacement vocabulary.” i.e., “&$#@”