Language on the forum.

[dullonien]

I'm just wondering if the forum should start being a bit stricter with some of the bad language that's started to be used quite consistently on the forum. The F word is being used quite often for example. I'm not innocent of this myself, and have found myself using more and more swear words whilst posting.

I'm by no means a prude when it comes to swearing, and personally don't give two hoots (yes I was tempted to write 'give a f***' there instead) about reading swear-words on the forum. However with the large influx of new members the affiliation with HB studio's has brought to the forum (many of which are children I'm guessing), should the forum be censored a bit more?

This isn't really direct feedback, more that I want to get the opinions of other members. I don't think anyone here is overly sensitive about these things, but parents of any children who frequent the site may be, and possibly HB Studio's themselves would prefer not to have offensive language on their adopted forums. I'm gonna try and make a concious effort to reduce or stop my level of prophanity in any case.

So what do people think?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I 100% agree with this. Standards have dropped. I blame myself

 

[dullonien]

I 100% agree with this. Standards have dropped. I blame myself

Bad Cymro. Oh hang on, this doesn't sound right :huh:

 

[Feicarsinn]

I also blame Cymro. Terrible example.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Sorry lads, let the ball drop to many times on this.

 

[Feicarsinn]

And that filth in his signature! Oh, I bet Jesus is spinning in his grave.

 

[dan the man]

I'm an adult, i'm a builder, and play rugby so i hear ALOT!!! of swearing everyday, it doesn't bother me, but i personally don't use that sort of language. The fact that there are alot of younger people on this forum, not just due to HB but due to youngsters playing rugby and the internet being used more, and more by the younger generation i think it could be good to censored a bit more...
In saying that Jessica Alba seducing me into her bed is probably worse for children than a few swear words Just saying...

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

I've felt that this is an issue for a long time myself. I tend to think about what the forum is supposed to grow into and if it's to be treated as something that will grow, it needs to be handled professionally.

I'm a member on a variety of forums, some seem to have absolutely no controls over anything people say or do. Some are very strict.

Ain't It Cool News for example allows anything and everything. Some of the usernames are immensely insulting and sick. Some of the things posted would never be allowed here. I have to say, despite it being one of the worlds most read movie news sites, only a few hundred people seem to post there because of it.

Playstation Universe is a little on the stricter side. A guy called me something and I called him an idiot back. Both of us were given permanent (albeit small) infractions. I was surprised, but in general that site is much tighter on language and attitudes than here. On that site, thousands of people post everyday, and it's a very active and busy site.

I know what I'm saying is not a general rule, but controversy and strong language is not always a draw card to making people want to be here and post. Some people have families and are cautious what they want to let their kids participate in.

One of the big problems is how much people want to file everything under the word "banter" to make what they've said fine.

That's all just my opinion though.

 

[Shaggy]

An interesting topic ... i'm not beyond using the occasional expletive either, but I find that if you disagree with what a person is saying, and not attack the person for saying it, it certainly cuts down the need to swear.

... also, if something annoys me, it's also more challenging to use other adjectives to describe how i'm feeling

 

[TNT88]

I don't see the issue with "bad words". But i'm not running the forum.

If you guys feel the need to restrict some words for a good reason, go for it. Just don't go ultra conservative

 

[dullonien]

I don't see the issue with "bad words". But i'm not running the forum.

If you guys feel the need to restrict some words for a good reason, go for it. Just don't go ultra conservative

Summs it up for me aswell really. C A Iversen said it well, although in a very roundabout way. I feel if the forum wants to grow, as I'm sure most would like see happen, then there needs to be some degree of control over a few swear-words, nothing extreme atall. Everyone can express themselves without the need to resort to effing and blinding, so I don't see a problem. This should make the forum a little more friendly, and won't put anyone off signing-up.

I think the moderators on the forum do a damn good job of keeping the place nice and friendly as it is, just one look at 606 shows how out of control forums can get. This is just a small thing that I thought was worth discussing amongst all the members here. Although I know Cymro was joking, I just want to clarify that this was no way an attack or a critisism of the mods here.

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

I don't see the issue with "bad words". But i'm not running the forum.

If you guys feel the need to restrict some words for a good reason, go for it. Just don't go ultra conservative

It's far from that now. To be honest I think rather than swearing, the first thing to look at would be being more pro-active in sanctioning those who are the first to insult, attack another person rather than their argument, use cultural or nationalistic stereotypes or generally post something that starts a thread down the "goodbye intelligent conversation, this is going to get nasty" road. Swearing can be just used in a more conversational show of frustration about a game that was just watched or money someone lost or something like that, and that's not often that bad if not over-used.

Still, as Shaggy has said, there's more skill and intelligence in increasing your own vocabulary.

 

[dullonien]

It's far from that now. To be honest I think rather than swearing, the first thing to look at would be being more pro-active in sanctioning those who are the first to insult, attack another person rather than their argument, use cultural or nationalistic stereotypes or generally post something that starts a thread down the "goodbye intelligent conversation, this is going to get nasty" road. Swearing can be just used in a more conversational show of frustration about a game that was just watched or money someone lost or something like that, and that's not often that bad if not over-used.

Still, as Shaggy has said, there's more skill and intelligence in increasing your own vocabulary.

Everyone can still understand if swear-words are censored to some degree: S**t, F**k etc. etc. But it still protects the younger members, although I'm sure they all know exactly what they mean. If I had children I wouldn't swear in front of them, and I wouldn't want others to either, just feel the same courtesy should occur here aswell, maybe.

Edit. Hell if I just type *!?**!, that conveys that I'm annoyed at something and swearing, without writing anything offensive atall.

Further edit: don't ask why I'm still up at almost 6am, bloody uni work is a *!?*!.

 

[gingergenius]

don't have a problem with how it is now, the ruder words get automatically starred out anyway. imo swearwords are just words, they're used to add emphasis, humour and/ or offence to things we say... they're a vital part of language. if people are going to get offended they need to grow up because they'll hear bad words everywhere they go in the real world, and in a rugby context they'll hear it a lot on the pitch and a bit in the stands.

EDIT. agree with CA Iversen's comment just above.

re: dullonien... If children are old enough to have a free rein on the internet, they're old enough to read swearing IMO.

 

[lucky number 7]

I was raised as a chap to be terrified of swear words despite hearing them every day.

at the age of 8 I used to have a 5 year old friend who would curse like mad despite being a lovely kid ..I was so desgusted by his bad language that I asked him to kindly stop and please refrain from cursing in the future......he raised his head ..looked me in the eye and told me to **** off ....

You cant stop some people cursing ..

 

[Duckdee]

the ruder words get automatically starred out anyway.

If that's the case, then my suggestion would be to cut out the times people get around the censor. Either allow everything (bar racism, homophobia, etc), or just uphold the rules you have now.

 

[Saints1]

I can't get staff to moderate every single swear word, not that any of you are suggesting that I do.

It's a tough balancing act, because whilst it's part of every day life, I want TRF to be a safe haven for people when they are in work. Swearing won't help that. To an extent, we do moderate it with a swear filter (the older members will remember what I did to Jacko Lattimorx's surname with the filter) but things get through.

However, this is something I am watching.

 

[snoopy snoopy dog dog]

I don't particularly have a problem with the swearing here. The place is far better than Planet Rugby anyway.

One thing that can get frustrating is the constant trolling. I'll hold my hand up and say I've been guilty of it from time to time. Trolling always ruins threads (look at the Heineken Cup final thread for example) as does things like senior members slagging off new posters. Why would a new poster stick around if he's being belittled? The place becomes cliquey as a result.

 

[superrprop]

Suprisingly I don't swear that much in my everyday life. But there's something about it being online that makes it somehow not rude.

 

[TRF C A Iversen]

I don't particularly have a problem with the swearing here. The place is far better than Planet Rugby anyway.

One thing that can get frustrating is the constant trolling. I'll hold my hand up and say I've been guilty of it from time to time. Trolling always ruins threads (look at the Heineken Cup final thread for example) as does things like senior members slagging off new posters. Why would a new poster stick around if he's being belittled? The place becomes cliquey as a result.

I'm with you on that. I think there's a way to speak to members who are not quite keeping things seemly. Sometimes some of us in the moderation area have come down a little heavy. I think if we're big enough to admit it, we can all do a little better at the moderation end as well.