Controversial, religious things? I would venture to say that these words are controversial only on this site, and perhaps others with such strict family-friendly policies. Where else have you ever seen it become an issue that people were using words like this?

You say you won't find these words in AC, but if you go to some people's towns, I'll bet they can be found either as catchphrases, greetings, or on bulletin board posts.

I agree with DragonKeeper: language and its usage changes over time, and some words will lose their offensiveness or change meaning. Maybe 50 years ago these words were a lot more charged, but nowadays the only people who are offended are in the minority.

Still, no-one is explaining exactly why we need these words to be allowed.

Why shouldn't they be? If only, say, 100 people on this site are offended while the other 2000 are not, why should we cater to such a select few? "Majority rules" has generally been the accepted way of deciding laws and such in most civilized societies, because it's the easiest way to make the most amount of people happy. As was said before, you cannot please everyone and it's pointless to try.

The idea of the poll was a great one, although I think it might have been more useful to include a greater variety of words than so many variations on "oh my God." I posted a thread on this subject a couple of days ago, so it was a pretty happy coincidence for me. As the poll has shown and as Ms.Mitzi has reiterated, if the vast majority of people do not find a word offensive, there is really no good reason to ban it.

I don't find any of them offensive what so ever. I think the filter really should be loosened up a bit because the language is far to strict. More time should be spent on tightening up the more offensive swear words and toughening the filter instead.

I don't like the phrases with "God" in them because using them in that way is a sin in my church.

But acronym is fine because it's the way you interpret the G. And the last word I use around my parents. Even my teachers use it and I go to a religious school. I'm fine with that one.

EDIT: If other people use these words it wouldn't bother me. People around me say all these things a lot and I'm fine with it. You just won't find me using the "God" phrases. It doesn't bother me if others use them.

EDIT2X: Okay, I would be somewhat bothered. XD

"It just brings me back to being unable to see the point. The poll asks if it offends you. It doesn't mean everyone who voted no it doesn't is saying they want them to be allowed. It's not a very good poll to ask what its intention was, anyway."

~Computerfan

Yes, it asks if it offends you for a reason. If the majority of people do not find such words/phrases offensive than why ban them? Why would there ever be a law banning something found acceptable? It just doesn't happen. There's a point in asking if it is found offensive or not.

"Still, no-one is explaining exactly why we need these words to be allowed."

!Computerfan

Because,as I said, it is pointless to bane something the majority do not want banned. It's unnecessary to not allow things people interact with daily simplex because this is a website. Websites have become a daily occurrence for most people, and they prefer them to suit their lives. When someone would normal use the -word to express dissatisfaction with a recent event int ehir lives and find they cannot use it when on a jormal

Double post? That hasn't happened to me in a while. o.o

"Yes, it asks if it offends you for a reason. If the majority of people do not find such words/phrases offensive than why ban them? Why would there ever be a law banning something found acceptable? It just doesn't happen. There's a point in asking if it is found offensive or not.
"

Yeah, that's kind of our research project here for possible rule updates.

"The idea behind the poll is to find out, from a larger audience, if anyone finds those phrases offensive anymore. A few are used widely and are not considered to be that bad anymore. We wanted to get the views of more than just the staff on this one."

I have to admit, I'm honestly surprised that anyone found any of these offensive to begin with, let alone STILL find them offensive. I mean, these are words and phrases that we see and hear in a variety of media (TV shows, games, movies, books, magazines, whatever) and of course they're all found just about everywhere online. It seems silly to me that anyone could be offended by words and phrases that are so commonplace.

Also, it amuses me to no end that people are calling the last word in the poll "the c-word." Lulz. That is most definitely not the c-word. Just sayin'.

"Still, no-one is explaining exactly why we need these words to be allowed."

I've been to a lot of forums over the last decade or so that I've been using the Internet and I've never been to a forum that censored its posters. Ever.

I can understand not allowing the biggies, given the nature of the site, but the words and phrases in the poll are very boring, very tame, and I would bet that at least one (if not more) on the list is probably heard by a bunch of us at least once a day, whether through various media or from friends or family.

Honestly, I would love to see the filter relaxed a little bit.

I agree that it ought to be relaxed. I do not use any words stronger than the certain "c" word, but many words I use on a regular basis are filtered.

-Canama

I find none of the words offensive, but to respect every other user on ACC, I think they should all be left out. Although, the first option (which I can't say) I think is used in everyday life on the internet and when I was a noob here, I was quite surprised that it was not allowed. I think as far as loosening filters, everything is fine now and no change would be just fine, too. The poll on the homepage, though, should probably be removed.

Are the first four options not the same thing? Or am I just tripping?

I found none of them offensive, though I am 19 and I can't speck for the majority of the ACC community. (Which is about 10-8 years younger then me)

I don't find any of those words offensive in the slightest.
With regards to the 'God' ones, it may be because I'm an atheist, but really, those terms have become such a part of our language, we don't realise we're using them any more.

On more than one occasion, I've been reported for saying 'Jesus Christ'. I didn't even realise I'd said it, firstly because it's not blocked, and secondly because no-one has ever made a fuss about it before, whether in real life, or on ACC.

what I find hilarious:
didn't this kind of poll pop up a 1-2 years ago ?
that is, about the filtered c word and also variations of oh my god,
asking if they should be unfiltered or something.

and also, didn't a majority in that poll vote that yes, they shouldn't
be filtered ? it became increasingly apparent the poll was a waste of
time as each week passed by as if that particular poll never existed.

thus, I don't have any hopes for the result, or total lack of,
in this week's poll.

I think that the c word should be allowed in Private Threads (BTs etc); I don't really see anything wrong with it... There are alot worse words out there. As for the variations of oh my god; I don't even know why the acronym is blocked, it is used on Neopets (as far as I know) and all sorts of children's sites on the internet, and many people say it. Now someone's gonna say "well everyone says the f word" but that word is MUCH different than o m g.

And for "Oh God" and "My God" I could see places where this could be allowed, such as someone telling someone else a sad/horrible/etc. story (or something); and there are lots of times where "Oh God" isn't used bad context. People should be allowed to say God you know.

I can still see the c word being blocked, but blocking o m g is just stupid imo.

EDIT:

"Also, it amuses me to no end that people are calling the last word in the poll "the c-word." Lulz. That is most definitely not the c-word. Just sayin'."

I didn't even think of that.

But words like the f word and sexually oriented swear words (maybe not the latter) are used everywhere you go; and that doesn't mean that they're not offensive to people. But those words are, again, much different from o m g etc.

And this site isn't just about AC. Actually, I never talk about AC anymore. I go on here to talk to my friends, surf the off topic board, and play a Sonic RPG with my friends, among other things.

And actually, I feel offended when I can't say "Oh God" etc. because that's a form of talking to God when you hear/see/etc. something bad. At least, again, imo.



Wait... is "Oh God" allowed on here? Because if it is, I feel like an idiot right now.

EDIT #2: Also, Neopets is an extremely strict site. They "freeze" people at the drop of a hat.

EDIT #3: And, why is "sexually" not filtered but "o m g" is? I've always wondered that.

EDIT #4:

"No..

No-one will be offended by banning the words. It's not as if saying the c word is part of any major religion, and same with o m g.

A large amount of the population are religious, and it doesnt matter how many people arent. There are still lots. No, ACC can't make everyone happy, but it's no big deal being unable to say the two words/phrases at question."

If you were to choose between two things; one thing makes 200 people unhappy and another thing makes 100,000 people unhappy, wouldn't it make more sense to choose the thing that made 200 people unhappy (provided it's ethnical and works with society (not drugs, etc.))?

EDIT #5: (This is getting annoying)

You said a large amount of the pop. is religious. Which is true. I am religious. But many, many, of those people are not offended by the use of "Oh my God", including myself.

Everyone on the Earth has sinned in some way. If everyone who was religious didn't do something that wasn't (minorly) (ex. sinning (not killing, but something like swearing)) against their religion, then we wouldn't be sinners and therefore religion wouldn't exist.

^Very well explained, that's all I've got to say.

We cannot please all of ACC. Look at the molecular numbers for those offended by such words. Times change, as so many have said.

This site is "family friendly". Many families have no problem with the god words. With the c one, I don't think that is bad at all. Seeing a word is one hing, repeating it is another. If I had an 8 year old kid I would be fine with them seeing it but wouldn't want them to go around saying it everywhere.

With stuff like this remember that the site is officially consideren family friendly. E games and G movies are just like this.  If is in those it should be ok for a family friendly site

"On more than one occasion, I've been reported for saying 'Jesus Christ'. I didn't even realise I'd said it, firstly because it's not blocked, and secondly because no-one has ever made a fuss about it before, whether in real life, or on ACC."

I say this one a lot in real life. It's pretty much my go-to phrase for just about any situation. Odd that it can go through the filter without a hitch, but you can get a notification for using it. That doesn't really make sense.

"E games and G movies are just like this. If is in those it should be ok for a family friendly site"

Yeah, you can pretty much hear variations of all of them on kid-rated media, not to mention network television, which I would imagine is watched by the vast majority of ACCers.

Honestly, banning certain words seems to draw more attention to them because people are wondering why they're banned. And to me, it seems as if they're banned to satisfy a small minority, which really isn't fair to the rest of us. Frankly, I don't think there will be a huge difference between what posters say now and what they would say if the ban on the poll options are listed. I think it'll be more like, "Oh, we can actually say those now? Finally!" I think people will just go about their business as usual, and if a situation arises, they'll have more words in their arsenal to more accurately express what they want to say.

I've lost count of how many times I've said "nonsense" in place of the last poll option. It's just weird to have to do that. I mean, the first time I heard that word? I was six. Six! I heard it on "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" My parents were watching with me and they didn't freak out or shut the TV off, because it was no big deal. As for the other stuff in the poll? Those didn't matter either.

I think there's a big difference between creating a safe, family-friendly online environment for kids and needlessly sheltering them.

"I say this one a lot in real life. It's pretty much my go-to phrase for just about any situation. Odd that it can go through the filter without a hitch, but you can get a notification for using it. That doesn't really make sense."

Because if they blocked it, it would be implying that He doesn't exist (in the eyes of a Christian) and therefore offending Christians, and angry Christians are very difficult to get rid of. Trust me, I know, I am a Christian. If Jesus Christ was blocked, I would probably explode at ACC and go to the extremes. Including taking them to court. I am not joking.

But they don't want people saying "Jesus Christ!!" because saying it in vain means you are swearing (actually swearing, not saying o m g or ACC's "c-word").

"A large amount of the population are religious, and it doesnt matter how many people arent. There are still lots. No, ACC can't make everyone happy, but it's no big deal being unable to say the two words/phrases at question."

I hope you can understand why it is ridiculous to censor people's speech based on, according to the poll, the whims of a relatively small minority of people. No one is advocating the allowance of the f-bomb or sexually explicit language. But frankly, I find the idea that extreme sensitivity of a small faction is a good reason to prohibit me from expressing myself using phrases I commonly employ a bit offensive in itself; it's pandering to an extremely vocal crowd who is trying to dictate the morality of everyone else. You simply cannot appeal to the strictest standards in applying them to everyone. There has to be a middle ground, and the prohibition of this particular phrase crosses that line by miles.

5.3% (74 votes)
12.8% (178 votes)
10.5% (147 votes)
10.5% (147 votes)
12.3% (172 votes)
I'm not offended by any of them
77.1% (1076 votes)

5.3% (75 votes)
12.8% (182 votes)
10.6% (150 votes)
10.6% (150 votes)
12.4% (176 votes)
76.9% (1090 votes)