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The Rules
Jul 22, 2001

Hi darlin'

I'm going to duplicate parts of a thread I started in the Community Soapbox before I decided to reopen Magnolia Thunderpussy's salon. The bits I've selected are relevant to how we need to select our words in this place. If you'd like to look at the whole thing, go here. "How are the house rules applied?" http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F55683?thread=128113

>I've noted some confusion in the community about apparent inconsistencies in the application of the House Rules, as well as occasional difficulty in figuring out exactly what it was that has gotten some posts moderated. Would it be possible to get a clearer set of guidelines so we can avoid breaking the rules inadvertently?

Specifically, I'm talking about the following section.

>Unlawful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, racially offensive, or otherwise objectionable material is not acceptable.<

Some of these descriptions are pretty subjective, especially obsecene and otherwise objectionable material. My speculation is that h2g2 prefers not to set a more specific standard because the purpose of those rules is not to be restrictive of the researchers' creativity or ability to express themselves on site, and the more rules we have, the more the more likely we are to break one of them. I've also been assuming that a lot of borderline posts are being left alone unless someone complains about them through the yikes button or by email.

Is that an accurate assessment or are there other reasons that I haven't taken into consideration?

Personally, I've run into confusion with the moderation system twice since I joined h2g2 last fall. They've both been in the "sexually oriented" realm.

Last week I pressed that yikes button for the first time ever, about a couple of posts I'd made on a friend's page. It was a hormonal place, and I made that old joke about "how do you make a whore moan?" Then I made a following post to someone about a he'd put in there. I was afraid, sometime later, that I'd offended my friend who's page it was on so I went and yikesed my posts. I told the moderaters that I'd made sexual innuendo and thought I'd offended someone. When the email got back to me my request for moderation had been denied. And no harm was done, because the person who's page it was on had been teasing me and I took it seriously. But If she'd been serious, I'd still feel bad about it.

I DID make sexually oriented posts, and I complained about it, and it wasn't moderated. So I'm still a bit confused as to how the rules are applied.

The other time I personally had a run in with moderation was last October, before h2g2 was absorbed by the BBC. I'd made a page, and a persona that was more....ummmm... erotic than MoG and was collecting stories and poems and such with more sexual overtones there. Those of us participating were having a lot of fun. Most of the conversations on that page were nuked all of a sudden, and for some time I wasn't able to figure out exactly why. I didn't want to break the rules, but I didn't really understand them well enough that we could play within them. Peta finally explained that h2g2 was applying the UK film standards to h2g2, and that some of the threads had too many erect "members" (my word, since I don't want THIS post to be moderated) present to be suitable for h2g2. That's fine...I understand that. I'd like to bring that persona out of her dormant state, but I'm not quite sure how to do it and be certain that I won't break the rules. I was having fun with her. She's a flirty wench, but not "obscene" in my opinion. I recognize that others might view her differently, though.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
MoG<


>Hi MoG

You're quite correct of course, some of these descriptions are pretty subjective. But, if someone asks you not to be obscene in front of your granny would you find it difficult? Probably not, you'd do your best to censor anything that you personally considered remotely dubious, and you'd probably do a pretty good job of it.

On h2g2 the community itself decides what is offensive or objectionable. If someone complains about content, and gives a well-balanced argument as to why they're offended by it, then it's obviously *has* offended them, and we'll remove it. What do have to decide whether something is a genuine complaint or not, of course, but the complaint, the community reaction and the context all help us to make that decision.

I don't think it would help if I attempted to break down the rules further, any more than it would help if I tried to make a list of all of the things my son shouldn't do, or say, between the ages of 5 and 18. It would be impossible to cover ever possibility and variation. The imagination of a young teenager far exceeds mine in thinking of imaginative ways to be objectionable and/or obscene. (But then that's small boys for you!)

I think the obscene/offensive rule is clear in as much as it can be. But if anyone else wants to suggest other wording then please feel free, we'll always consider reasonable and constructive suggestions.

Peta<


>Thanks, Peta
I'll keep an eye out for the netiquette article you mentioned is in process somewhere. That might help too.

I asked this not because I want to see how far the rules can be stretched before they break, but rather because I don't like offending people if I can avoid it. IRL it's pretty easy to determine what's going too far based on the circumstances and the people you're with. On h2g2 it's different, because you can have a racy but acceptable conversation that's appropriate to the thread it's in, but you never know exactly when someone with completely different ideas as to what constitutes obscenity or offensiveness will show up there. I'd have to moderate a good bit of h2g2 if I wanted to show it to my granny without risking offending her, and if those were the standards I had to maintain everywhere here I wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much as I do. The flexibility is what is so charming about this place, even though it is a bit confusing at times.<


>Hi MoG

Yes I do understand the problem. It's normally kind of obvious is someone is getting a bit close to the line with their use of language or the 'raciness' of their conversation. I normally just go over and have a nice quiet conversation with them (often via email) and let them know they should tone it down a little, and they're usually most obliging. People here don't try to be offensive generally, they just get a bit carried away sometimes.

Racy conversations are generally fine, innuendo and flirting make up a great big hunk of the guide. Poems that are suggestive and evocative are fine too. I've just been 'passing' a number of poems by Magnolia, , they're probably as far as we'd allow things to go.

I hope this helps. If you need any more guidance just ask. I'm always happy to help.

Peta<

NOTE: I DIDN'T WRITE THOSE POEMS WHICH PETA WAS 'PASSING'. YANKAWANKA STARTED THE "RED NAILS" THREAD, AND GROOMINAWOOKIE CARRIED ON FROM THERE. HE EDITED AND COLLECTED THE FIRST 50 POEMS IN A BOOK, WHICH HE SENT TO ME AND HAS SINCE ADDED EVEN MORE TO THE h2g2 COLLECTION ON HIS PAGE. I'M HOPING HE'LL DECIDE TO DUPLICATE THOSE IN THE "RED NAILS" THREAD. HERE'S THE LINK, SO YOU CAN SEE FOR YOURSELF HOW FAR THINGS ARE ALLOWED TO GO. http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F54365?thread=81644

I think we can have a lot of fun here if we respect the judgement of those responsible for determining policy at h2g2. Personally, I feel they're being pretty lenient. Let's try to make this experiment one which displays how well the h2g2 community can regulate itself, rather than one which highlights the need for moderators on BBC property.

Thanks for your consideration!


Magnolia Thunderpussy

(No replies)

Censorship?
Oct 10, 2000

hehehe. Well, they haven't KILLED me yet. But the erotica does appear to have mysteriously disappeared. *POOF*

Wondered if that might happen, and can't seem to access the email account I created for this place, to see if I have gotten any nasty letters. Ah well, was fun while it lasted. And rather than feel hurt, I'll chose to look at it as if we were before our time, like Henry Miller--easier to accept that way. Had a lot of fun colloborating with Yanka Wanka--love ya, ca'pn!

Now to post, and see if anything happens--could be they really did shut me down. Ciao, baby!

(12 replies, Latest reply: Nov 3, 2000)