New Community Guidelines Announcement

[Imurg]

MikeH always used to say that if a word was printed in the magazine it could be used on here....
Simple really.

 

[Deleted member 27823]

As someone who had been known to swear… that rule is clear and makes perfect sense.

Can I ask whether racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic memes will continue to be tolerated as “humour” under the new regime?

 

[SHaines]

As someone who had been known to swear… that rule is clear and makes perfect sense.

Can I ask whether racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic memes will continue to be tolerated as “humour” under the new regime?

All of the above is an immediate permanent ban. There's no point system for hateful rhetoric, we'll just kick them out and they will not be missed. Any existing posts of this type can be reported and it will be removed. I'll keep an eye out for reports so the volunteers aren't doing all of this alone.

 

[SteveW86]

MikeH always used to say that if a word was printed in the magazine it could be used on here....
Simple really.

What about the articles on the GM website or social media that have swearing in them?

 

[SHaines]

What about the articles on the GM website or social media that have swearing in them?

Our community guidelines are for the forums. We don't have any input into social media or Editorial decisions.

 

[Fade and Die]

All of the above is an immediate permanent ban. There's no point system for hateful rhetoric, we'll just kick them out and they will not be missed. Any existing posts of this type can be reported and it will be removed. I'll keep an eye out for reports so the volunteers aren't doing all of this alone.

Maybe as an American it might be worth you delegating the Moderating of the "Laughter is the best medicine" thread to one of your British colleagues otherwise I can see you decimating the Forum.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

We do have a filter, but when you have folks using variations of words to bypass them, or when people just insert their own asterisks, everyone is still seeing the language in their head.

If the rule is not to swear, folks shouldn't swear. There are a ton of places online to swear as much as you want. This forum just isn't one of them. Anyone who chooses not to abide with the rules will be quickly removed and then the active users can carry on without them.

With you having admitted to being from across the pond, you may not have heard of the major UK builders merchants called Jewsons. My dear old dad would say when upset with something I’d said ‘it’s not what you say it’s how you say it that matters’. You’ll agree totally with him.

And so many years later I‘d find myself irritated by the Jewsons TV advert that used its brand advertising strap line…’We’ve got the Jewson lot’…because in my head I knew precisely the word that they were replacing with Jewson.

A veritable can of good old British innuendo worms. Good luck to the mods.

 

[Robster59]

I live in Glasgow where swearing seems to be mandatory. It came as a shock to the level of it when I moved up here twenty years ago. I swear in real life but try to moderate it where I can, but sometimes it slips out. I am also careful who I swear in front of. I just don't use it willy nilly (apologies for the use of the word "willy" ).
But, IMHO, there is no need to swear on a forum. There are plenty of ways to emphasise items without resorting to bad language. English is a colourful enough language with plenty of options without having to resort to bad language.
If you swear when you type, then you can rectify that before you press "Post reply". Not everybody approves of bad language, and don't like to see it on a forum. You don't know who will be reading it and how they will take it. GM has a minimum standard they wish to apply to this forum. If you want to post here, you agree to those standards. If you don't, then you don't post. It's really very simple.

If I sound like a prude to some, let me assure you that I am not, but I do have certain personal standards, and I also respect that the owners of this forum have theirs.

I can't see it being the death knell of the forum. If you want to leave because you aren't allowed to swear in a post, then best I can say is "bye bye".

 

[Billysboots]

I think a small minority are simply getting hot under the collar for the sake of getting hot under the collar. It really isn’t difficult to engage in debate, heated debate at that, without throwing in profanities.

I get that people swear in their day to day lives. I have been known to . But this forum, aside from having a significant number of active participants, has many times more guests browsing its pages. As a consequence I absolutely get why GM as a brand do not want these pages soiled by bad language.

It’s really very simple. If you want to swear in your private lives amongst your circle of friends, fill your boots. If you want to do it here and ignore what is a breathtakingly simple request, crack on as well. But do it here in the knowledge that you pay the consequences.

 

[Mel Smooth]

I’ve found that rules can be broken as long as nobody reports the breaches, so it comes down to a little bit of luck and a little bit of favour from other posters.

Some posters have a target on their backs, some don’t. I know I’ve been banned for posting links to 3rd party media without even appreciating that it might contain a rules violation.

I’ve seen other people post similar links and it not get picked up.

I guess the rules are clear, so if they’re broken, it’s on the individual poster.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I’ve found that rules can be broken as long as nobody reports the breaches, so it comes down to a little bit of luck and a little bit of favour from other posters.

Some posters have a target on their backs, some don’t. I know I’ve been banned for posting links to 3rd party media without even appreciating that it might contain a rules violation.

I’ve seen other people post similar links and it not get picked up.

I guess the rules are clear, so if they’re broken, it’s on the individual poster.

It is something that Fragger used to point out on a regular basis, and it has not changed. Mods don't read or vet every post. We read a decent amount, the same as everyone else, but the report function is very much the way to bring attention to questionable posts. That does mean, as you say, some will slip through that will bring about a slapped wrist for someone else. It is not deliberate, we just don't check everything and need forum users to do their bit.

The key point is your last sentence .

 

[SHaines]

For any future questions or comments about moderation, please email community@futurenet.com to reach our full Community Team.

Thanks!