moderators vs. swearing.

[78bass]

What are your thoughts?

[jkritchey]

Paul has a no swearing rule and the mods enforce it. FTW!

[KeithBMI]

I have never had a problem with the no swearing rule.

[The_D]

I knew the rules when I signed up so I'm fine with it.

[anon_6j591b0]

It irritates me as I can't write in the conversational style I'd be using to speak to you....what can I say, I'm a little blue collar rough....it's who I am. You can call someone a moron but you can't use even something less blatant like WTF? without disguising it with a font colour change to black like I did here.

If I say something like, "You're outta yer **** ing mind" there is ANY illusion at all that I just used a word starting with fu and ending with cking? Network television has much less stringent rules fer crying out loud.

[Jazz Ad]

I find this rule ridiculous but I accept it without a problem.
We're invitees here. My mom taught me not to pee on my hosts' carpet.

[Foamy]

I'd say that you may learn how to use more words than vulgarity. There are a lot of words out there. Especially when addressing individuals here - there's no need for name calling or swearing, really, there's not. I don't have a problem with the rules either.
And if there's someTHING you don't like, can you not find non-swearing words to get your point across?
If you were conversing with me and swearing, I'd walk away anyhow. And that may cause us each to miss valid points of discusison that could have taken place.

[Hawaii Islander]

The "no swearing" rule makes sense since members who are children may be reading the boards and posting. If this were a strictly 17+ forum then the "no swearing" wouldn't be as necessary. I think its beneficial to make this forum accessible to bass enthusiasts of all ages. Therefore, I have no problems abiding with the rule.

[anon_6j591b0]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

I find this rule ridiculous but I accept it without a problem.
We're invitees here. My mom taught me not to pee on my hosts' carpet.

And what would TB be without it's "guests"? We ARE TB.

Originally Posted by Enchanter_Tim

I'd say that you may learn how to use more words than vulgarity. There are a lot of words out there. Especially when addressing individuals here - there's no need for name calling or swearing, really, there's not.

I'm not advocating unbridled use of the language in question and I certainly have enough command of the the language not to be completely at a loss without being "vulgar". But as we are of all stripes here I feel there is validity in the notion that my thoughts are occasionally best expressed in the somewhat lowbrow persona that is a genuine part of me.

If you were conversing with me and swearing, I'd walk away anyhow. And that may cause us each to miss valid points of discusison that could have taken place.

If you walked away from me when I was discussing with you in person the finer points of rigging a wilding wall and I happend to look up and wonder why someone had left the headblocks all cow-****** I probably would stop that kind of language IMMEDIATELY....I'd be laughing too hard to say anything.

[Foamy]

I know what you mean, but..... I work at a high-tech company, and if I were conversing with a customer or perhaps a peer at another company, I would not resort to vulgarity, even if it were "me". And I take that tack here as well. It's just a matter of respect.
I felt like a good laugh, and looked up wilding wall - is it the bed thing? So I get a mental picture of a bed falling off the wall.
Well, it was funny anyhow.
:-)

[anon_6j591b0]

Originally Posted by Enchanter_Tim

I know what you mean, but..... I work at a high-tech company, and if I were conversing with a customer or perhaps a peer at another company, I would not resort to vulgarity, even if it were "me". And I take that tack here as well. It's just a matter of respect.
I felt like a good laugh, and looked up wilding wall - is it the bed thing? So I get a mental picture of a bed falling off the wall.
Well, it was funny anyhow.
:-)

And I understand your point also, it's a valid one.

A wilding wall (one that "wilds") is a wall on a movie set that can be taken out to reveal the interior to get a shot of it....part of my gig is to make stuff like that go up and down and it was just the first example I thought of where I might feel a genuine need to use naughty words. Glad you saw the humor.

And as annoying as I might find it it is a good challenge to express certain thoughts without saying things like "the ****-ing ******-er is totally ****-ed!"

[Basshole]

My problem is not with the profanity rules...it's with their selective enforcement by certain mods.

[guy n. cognito]

If you are incapable of expressing your thoughts and beliefs without cursing, then you're concerns shouldn't lie with the rules of TB, but rather with your own upbringing and lifestyle.

[Nino Valenti]

Originally Posted by 78bass

What are your thoughts?

I could care less either way. SInce there are a lot of kids on this site, I think it's a good idea to keep the vugarities to a minimum, aka zero.

I curse a lot and it's part of the way I talk. I have enough restraint that when I'm around kids and in certain situation, I don't curse. If you have to curse. you could go to other online forums that let you curse as much as you want.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by Joshua

This is simply not true. If you see profanity, report it. If you are unhappy with how the mod handles it, pm Paul. If it's your post that was reported and you are unhappy with the way the mod handled it, pm the mod. If you are still unhappy with the resolution, pm Paul.

This is a moving target people, and the post above perfectly describes the issue (imo) of allowing profanity. Everyone thinks their usage of it is correct. If the mods clean it up, they're "heavy handed", if they allow it to stay they're "selectively enforcing". The correct answer is simply not to allow it. And as already stated, if you can't express yourself without it, there isn't much TB can do for you anyways...

Of course the most important action is reporting the post to begin with. Mods can't see everything everywhere.

And I swear more than anybody and have no problem with the rule.

Great post. I swear like a jazz musician when on the gig. When at home with my 4 year old, the wife (a good country girl with a serious mouth on her) and I try to find creative substitutions - we amuse ourselves with the Brit ones that sound out of context in KY like "sod off", "bugger", "bloody this/that", etc... Teaching classes at the U, I have to edit some/much of my normal casual language when teaching classes on the "legit" side of things, and can slightly relax the editing rules when teaching the jazzers - kind of a "when in Rome" thing. Here at TB, the rule is "masked profanity", so a mod's job is to mask it when he sees it.

About the "selective enforcement" part, that's a slippery slope. OF COURSE each mod handles their own forum(s) in their own style. Some mods give infraction points for unmasked profanity. Some give warnings. I don't do either. When I see profanity, I change it to something like "teats", "poo", "fornicate" etc. if it seems to fit the style of the thread and lighten things up. If another mod reports the thread, I'll usually just mask the profanity. Either way, I put "Carlin Rules" in the edit box and just go on. Occasionally, I'll add a short PM with a link to the profanity rule if I think that the poster doesn't know the rule exists, or has forgotten about it. The day I have to start giving "infraction points" for unmasked profanity is the day I'll start considering walking away, but that's just me.

Also, the rule started making a lot more sense once I was a parent; in fact, I actually appreciate places on the net that are kid friendly more than I ever imagined I would or could.

[Vandelay]

Vulgarities are too often used to insult someone, and I wouldn't want to visit a forum where people tear down each other like that.

[redstrand]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

If you are incapable of expressing your thoughts and beliefs without cursing, then you're concerns shouldn't lie with the rules of TB, but rather with your own upbringing and lifestyle.

Exactly. Some of us are at work and cussing would make it that much more difficult to access.

There is no need for cussing in any post. Period. There are many other ways to wax the poetic.

Remember, you agreed to the no cussing rule so abide by it...this is Paul's baby...not yours and we have to follow the do's and don'ts accordingly, if not then read the agreement a bit more closely next time.

[Chunk-O-Funk]

It's a non-issue for me. I can express myself without the use of profanity.

[anon_6j591b0]

Originally Posted by guy n. cognito

If you are incapable of expressing your thoughts and beliefs without cursing, then you're concerns shouldn't lie with the rules of TB, but rather with your own upbringing and lifestyle.

A broadly sweeping, ridiculously oversimplified statement like this is just not true and you need to be prepared to defend your position against specific cases. In mine my mother who you so carelessly insult has a masters degree in journalism and my father is a minister with a Ph.D in clinical psychology and I certainly didn't learn to swear growing up in their home. Then you infer I should be repentant of having spent a great deal of my working life in places like tour buses and logging camps where swearing is a coarse but often subtle and occasionally highly artistic and entertaining form of communication.

If you'd just said, "If you are incapable of expressing your thoughts and beliefs without cursing, then you need to learn how in order to post successfully at TalkBass" I would (with stated reservations) agree. As there are ways of communicating without swearing so there are ways of getting your judgmental rocks off without insulting someones mother or career/peer choices. Maybe it's not quite as satisfying as being arrogant and insulting but then sometimes neither is not swearing.
In the interest of harmony we all have to suck it up a little sometimes, eh?

As for unfair moderation in the past I have felt hard done by by some moderators but lately my transgressions have been dealt with fairly and with a sense of humor. I've been around TB almost seven years and the mods I seem to work over are definitely relaxing and maturing into the job of separating personal feelings from enforcing the rules. They're all human though and need the same slack cut them as I'd have from them.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by jeffbonny

As for unfair moderation in the past I have felt hard done by by some moderators but lately my transgressions have been dealt with fairly and with a sense of humor. I've been around TB almost seven years and the mods I seem to work over are definitely relaxing and maturing into the job of separating personal feelings from enforcing the rules. They're all human though and need the same slack cut them as I'd have from them.

Entirely fair, and this hypothetical recipient of the above comment is glad you feel that way now. At least one hypothetical moderator I see every day in real life was a bit of a wanker before he got his "net legs" under him, but has since (I hope) learned some better ways of internet behavior in the meantime. As always, YMMV.