Auto-censor in content forums

[Benetanegia]

i'm wondering .. is the occasional swearing in news post comments giving tpu an unprofessional look? we're not a bible discussion forum after all

IMO no. Word censorship gives a less professional feeling IMO, or maybe the idea of unnatending mods. There's no excesive cursing in the forums because mods deal well with that, it really isn't a problem. Unless mods are overworked, like someone said, I don't see any reason to fix what it's not broken.

 

[HammerON]

For the News and Reviews section - Yes
For the rest of the forum - no
Just my two cents

 

[Kreij]

i'm wondering .. is the occasional swearing in news post comments giving tpu an unprofessional look? we're not a bible discussion forum after all

I guess the real questions are, do you think that the occasional swearing makes TPU look unprofessional, and what level of professionalism are you looking for in your site?

I say do what you want. No one is going to leave over your decision.

 

[MilkyWay]

Im assuming its meant as a precaution to swearing, sure a lot of people might not do it but rather than allow the occasional swearing like i know ive had a tendency to let slip "shit" a few times even if it wasnt meant in an attacking way like "thats some cool shit" or "that *product is shit/looks shit". Maybe its not meant like that but thats how i thought it was.

Having it off the front page is a good idea but i wouldn't be bothered either way because its not so bad and i like it here, its not like its a major problem either so...

People getting upset about this need to think about the whole situation.

 

[AphexDreamer]

No Thank You for Censor Ship. Let people speak their minds no matter how bad or good their minds are.

 

[Flyordie]

I voted NO on the basis of there being a possibility of there not being an option for users that are logged in to disable it.
-Generally however, why not just ban "offensive" words from the News and Review section outright... If thats what this is really about then go that route instead of hammering the entire forum. I came here from Rage3D because Rage3D slaps D.T. over everything that is said...

TPU stands out because of its freedoms. W1zz, in my honest opinion, the way it is setup now, it works out great. You created a great site, its a hit with hardware vendors because of its accurate and unbiased reviews. It allows users and guests alike to voice their opinions and concerns about a product in ways that other forums do not. I hope that if it is decided to implement this "chokepoint" that it goes the way you want the forum to be seen.

NS

 

[btarunr]

Why not just censer it for any Non-Member?

Guests will not incur foul language and members can tolerate it until they choose to report it.

Win Win?

Non-members can't post replies. It's members who report posts with 'fucks'. Such reports don't go beyond 3 or so reports /month. Over a time it did prompt me to think that something should be in place for at least the content forums' threads, if not the rest of the community.

It's "fucks" in these comments that kind of don't look good:

 

[Kreij]

Three per month in the hundreds of news items you post?
Seems like there is no problem at all.

Hmmm ... can't see the word in question in your image.

 

[mlee49]

Well then I guess the mods should look at how many posts were reported for foul language and if that is more than Wizz feels adaquate he can make the decision to impliment this new feature.

Really how many curse words are in the 10 latest news posts? 0?

 

[btarunr]

Three per month in the hundreds of news items you post?
Seems like there is no problem at all.

Hmmm ... can't see the word in question in your image.

I didn't show an expample of comments with swear words. I showed exactly which part doesn't look good with swear words.

And I disagree that word censorship gives a 'less professional' feeling, or that it indicates mods being overworked. If we have to censor words, we don't even need addons, the point is when we decide to censor words, the addon cuts duplication of effort.

It becomes a funny situation where currently we're not a 'Bible preaching forum' and hence mods of content forums let swear words pass, only for them to get reported later for inappropriate language.

Really how many curse words are in the 10 latest news posts? 0?

In the last 10, 1.

 

[Kreij]

I guess I am of the opinion that if you and W1zz feel there would be a benefit to auto-censoring words in the news and article sections, then do it. You can always remove it is for some reason it does not accomplish what you thought it would, or if you felt it made the boards somehow lesser in their intent (although I can't see how that would be).

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Mussels]

Why not just censer it for any Non-Member?

Guests will not incur foul language and members can tolerate it until they choose to report it.

Win Win?

a curious approach.
(he's not talking about guests posting, but rather blocking guests from SEEING)

i think we've come up with a conclusion already.


The community agrees that a censor would be a good idea on the news forum to prevent swearing ruining our image, but we've also noted that people just dont swear or misbehave much in the news section, meaning that moderators and staff are sufficient to keep it clean.

 

[Kreij]

Either way I think that the moderation on TPU will take care of it. The real quesiton then becomes how we prevent dogs with santa hats avatars.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Got it! I'm going to expand my earlier suggestion:

TPU Cleanspeak 1.0

1./ When a member posts, the post is parsed and words are checked against the blacklist. Note that the "AI"* can make mistakes, but who cares, because of point 3.

2./ If there are no blacklist words, the post goes up. If there ARE blacklist words in the post, go to step 3.

3./ The post does NOT go up immediately, but goes to PREVIEW mode. The blacklisted words are shown underlined in red. Under the preview/edit window there is a checkbox marked... "TPU Cleanspeak 1.0 spots potentially contentious words. Are you sure you want to submit this post Y/N?". This concept is no different from the "This is an old thread, are you sure you want to wake it from the dead Y/N?"

4./ To post the member must check the box and click post again

5./ The post is parsed once again. If there are blacklisted words BUT the checkbox is selected, the post goes up. If the checkbox is not selected, it goes back to preview/edit mode.

6./ If a member has outstanding infractions, they do not get the checkbox option to post with blacklisted words. Their posts must be 100% clean with the message "TPU Cleanspeak 1.0 does not allow you to post with contentious words until your infraction count is below #"

Bingo! MailMan will now not sleep. He will be caught in the dilemma of wanting to collect infractions, but at the cost of not being able to swear. Poor lad will go nuts with indecision. He will be a changed man. He will be forced to be one, or the other. It might also help people from collecting infractions "on a roll". Once they have an infraction, their follow up posts will be forced clean. How unfortunate! LOL.

*NOTE: Parser "AI" methodology. The "AI" can be as simple as a list of blacklisted words, or could be somwhat smart, catching the typically letter substitutes or double lettering. It could also allow words in context based on the previous or next word, e.g. accepted phrases.

e.g.
1./ During the AI scan, reduce all words to their single letter equivalent. No double letters allowed. Parser would therefore convert "ffuck" and "fuuuckkkk" to "fuck" which would then hit the list and be caught. Note that AI scan would also need to ensure the blacklist was also based on single letters, so that "bollocks" would be "bolocks".
2./ Substitute alternative spellings "1" for "L" or "i", "3" for "E", and "4" for "A" etc. with a soundslike feature.
3./ Accepted phrases "grammar nazi" would be accepted

TPU Cleanspeak 1.0 methodology is hereby gifted to the community based on a single proviso: the words "awsome", "awesome", "unleash", and "world's first" must be on the blacklist. Hark! I have done my bit to save the world from marketing drivel.

 

[Mussels]

lemonade: complicated, but interesting.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Got it! I'm going to expand my earlier suggestion:

TPU Cleanspeak 1.0

1./ When a member posts, the post is parsed and words are checked against the blacklist. Note that the "AI"* can make mistakes, but who cares, because of point 3.

2./ If there are no blacklist words, the post goes up. If there ARE blacklist words in the post, go to step 3.

3./ The post does NOT go up immediately, but goes to PREVIEW mode. The blacklisted words are shown underlined in red. Under the preview/edit window there is a checkbox marked... "TPU Cleanspeak 1.0 spots potentially contentious words. Are you sure you want to submit this post Y/N?". This concept is no different from the "This is an old thread, are you sure you want to wake it from the dead Y/N?"

4./ To post the member must check the box and click post again

5./ The post is parsed once again. If there are blacklisted words BUT the checkbox is selected, the post goes up. If the checkbox is not selected, it goes back to preview/edit mode.

6./ If a member has outstanding infractions, they do not get the checkbox option to post with blacklisted words. Their posts must be 100% clean with the message "TPU Cleanspeak 1.0 does not allow you to post with contentious words until your infraction count is below #"

Bingo! MailMan will now not sleep. He will be caught in the dilemma of wanting to collect infractions, but at the cost of not being able to swear. Poor lad will go nuts with indecision. He will be a changed man. He will be forced to be one, or the other. It might also help people from collecting infractions "on a roll". Once they have an infraction, their follow up posts will be forced clean. How unfortunate! LOL.

*NOTE: Parser "AI" methodology. The "AI" can be as simple as a list of blacklisted words, or could be somwhat smart, catching the typically letter substitutes or double lettering. It could also allow words in context based on the previous or next word, e.g. accepted phrases.

e.g.
1./ During the AI scan, reduce all words to their single letter equivalent. No double letters allowed. Parser would therefore convert "ffuck" and "fuuuckkkk" to "fuck" which would then hit the list and be caught. Note that AI scan would also need to ensure the blacklist was also based on single letters, so that "bollocks" would be "bolocks".
2./ Substitute alternative spellings "1" for "L" or "i", "3" for "E", and "4" for "A" etc. with a soundslike feature.
3./ Accepted phrases "grammar nazi" would be accepted

TPU Cleanspeak 1.0 methodology is hereby gifted to the community based on a single proviso: the words "awsome", "awesome", "unleash", and "world's first" must be on the blacklist. Hark! I have done my bit to save the world from marketing drivel.

I hardly get infractions for cussing. I get them for immoral commutations of verbiage towards others. Your system blows goat juice.

 

[Mussels]

I hardly get infractions for cussing. I get them for immoral commutations of verbiage towards others. Your system blows goat juice.

you my intellectually challenged non-friend of who i abhor, are a shining example of how one can phrase insults without ever breaching a blacklist. your mother was a porcine, with the face of a rodent that ate a banstick through her nostril.

 

[TheMailMan78]

you my intellectually challenged non-friend of who i abhor, are a shining example of how one can phrase insults without ever breaching a blacklist. your mother was a porcine, with the face of a rodent that ate a banstick through her nostril.

Thank you kind sir for understanding my view.

 

[lemonadesoda]

I hardly get infractions for cussing. I get them for immoral commutations of verbiage towards others. Your system blows goat juice.

Naturally, TPU Cleanspeak 1.1 MailMan Edition will have extra greylist words that apply to certain members only. The well known website FarmersPowerUp would probably allow words and phrases like "goat" "lick my" "medication up the ass" as perfectly normal to see in a forum. But with TPU Cleanspeak 1.1 MM Edition, these words clearly serve no purpose other than to provide an extended vocabulary for attempted gorgian sophistic or socratic rhetoric disguised corruption of junior members. TPU Cleanspeak 1.1 MM edition would spot these words and the post would become invisible to all except MailMain. He would enjoy having "sidestepped" the auto-censor. We would enjoy the silence.

LOL. And he would never know.

 

[phanbuey]

you would also have to limit pictures, ---->

which would limit the discussion, in case anyone actually has something relevant to post. Which they often do.

point is ... 3-4 fbombs a month doesnt make anyone look unprofessional IMO, but a better way than trying to censor would be to discourage the behavior, rather than try to suppress it.

there are SO many ways around censorship on forums it would be futile.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Naturally, TPU Cleanspeak 1.1 MailMan Edition will have extra greylist words that apply to certain members only. The well known website FarmersPowerUp would probably allow words and phrases like "goat" "lick my" "medication up the ass" as perfectly normal to see in a forum. But with TPU Cleanspeak 1.1 MM Edition, these words clearly serve no purpose other than to provide an extended vocabulary for attempted gorgian sophistic or socratic rhetoric disguised corruption of junior members. TPU Cleanspeak 1.1 MM edition would spot these words and the post would become invisible to all except MailMain. He would enjoy having "sidestepped" the auto-censor. We would enjoy the silence.

LOL. And he would never know.

So Ill be the only one that can see the all new Nvidia 300 series benchmarks I just found? Oh well I guess Ill have to post them on another forum.

 

[lemonadesoda]

If you write them using CleanspeakTM, great! But if your reviews are "this nV300 is so fast it'll score more tricks than my mamma at a goatherders conference"... oh wait, damn, TPU 1.1 MM Edition needs an upgrade.

Man, I gotta get back to work.

CleanspeakTM logo

 

[phanbuey]

If you write them using CleanspeakTM, great! But if your reviews are "this nV300 is so fast it'll score more tricks than my mamma at a goatherders conference"... oh wait, damn, TPU 1.1 MM Edition needs an upgrade.

Man, I gotta get back to work.

CleanspeakTM logo

http://www.americanconsumernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/keep_your_kids_safe.jpg

cant argue with a logo like that.

 

[qubit]

The community agrees that a censor would be a good idea on the news forum to prevent swearing ruining our image, but we've also noted that people just dont swear or misbehave much in the news section, meaning that moderators and staff are sufficient to keep it clean.

Well, judging by the poll, most people don't think naughty word censorship would be a good idea.

 

[Mussels]

Well, judging by the poll, most people don't think naughty word censorship would be a good idea.

because most of us dont think its a problem in the first place.

if that swearing WAS present, the opinion would be different (read the comments, not just the poll)