Posted by jane d on February 1, 2011, at 3:08:31
In reply to ooo..ooo....I remember one! » jane d, posted by 10derheart on January 31, 2011, at 21:35:49
> So, although I pretty much agree with your post above on the issue, I also recognize over the years Dr. Bob often comes down on the side of as much freedom of choice as possible. Maybe that's why he leaves it as a choice, since a segment of posters has/have/will always complain[ed] about too much restricted speech.
Sorry. I meant to reply to this part of your post but got sidetracked by the cheerleader accoutrements.I'm a fan of free speech too though I won't go to the mat to defend any particular words. And there are even a few words I find fairly offensive myself. But this seems to me to be an unnecessary minefield. Some of the prohibited words are not going to be obvious to everyone. I wouldn't have thought there was a problem with this one and I'm pretty good at editing my written words (if not what I say aloud). So, as it stands, we have a system where people risk getting blocked for accidental use of possibly offensive words (which will then get edited anyway) so that other people can have the freedom to say p*m p*ms without having asterisks inserted. What kind of choice is that?
>
> I always thought maybe it was just a device (used by many sites, not just here...although most I've seen won't allow the words *at all* asterisked or not, and either remove the words entirely or the posts entirely) to get a poster to stop and think if s/he wants to use that language or not...{shrug}The most disconcerting use of this I've seen is in some chat software - where it edits your words immediately. When it happened to me my first reaction was to look at where my hands were on the keyboard. Several times. Strangely enough I've seen this associated with a forum which doesn't edit words at all on the forum.
Maybe the posts here should be blocked at the time of posting. That seems fairer than letting someone use a word that will automatically get them warned or blocked. And anyone who's really just trying to say pompoms can surely figure out a way to get it past the software anyway.
poster:jane d
thread:978322
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20110117/msgs/978446.html