Censoring words here in MyLot
By goldeneagle
@goldeneagle (6745)
United States
January 24, 2012 3:29pm CST
OK...I fully understand the reason behind not allowing certain words to be used in a mylot discussion, but this may be an example of taking it a little too far. I know that there are filters in place to search for certain words and not allow the discussion/response to be placed if it contains these words, but my discussion was just stopped because of a person's name...LOL I was attempting to post a discussion about Vice President Cheney. As some of you may know, he goes by D!ck, which also happens to be a slang term for a part of the male anatomy. SO, you guessed it...my discussion was stopped from posting, and I had to go back through it and replace all occurrences of "D!ck" with "Vice President". This is ridiculous...come on MyLot....lighten up a little LOL
So, has something like this ever happened to you. Do you think it is overkill? What are your opinions about this issue? I mean, aren't we all supposed to be adults here???? LOL
1 person likes this
7 responses
@JenInTN (27514)
• United States
25 Jan 12
I have had it happen to me a couple of times and it was definitely on the overkill side. I remember having to actually think about what it was that would have been censored..I even read through the post a couple of times before I singled it out. I can see some words and context but I have been censored, so to speak, under perfectly innocent circumstances...lol.
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
25 Jan 12
I can see the funny side too Jen, a couple of times I was left guessing where is it when I got the message? So reading what I wrote, I took out the offender. A word, I thought that was ok, but then in the general population, which can be read by a wide audience, maybe not the best choice for pr purposes. Ok, out you go you little demon monster into the trash bin you go and I used another word in the dictionary that would express what I wanted to say. It wasn’t a very big deal really, least I didn’t think it was, I just changed the bloody word to another one. However, I do recall laughing. On the other hand I was thinking hey, this is like a little tool that helps me produce a paragraph of better quality and I am all for that! Censorship? I don’t see it that way, not at all. :Lets call it the YUK filter. 
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
25 Jan 12
..because it is a dumb mechanical filter that can not distinguish being a robot employed to help mylot community out. I am not one to offend either. What would be the point of doing so? What was the ingredient? Just respond with I can’t tell you. 
I think the purpose of the filtration is to make the water clean so that people can drink it all up without contamination. Is that like controversial or more like conversational? 
I think the purpose of the filtration is to make the water clean so that people can drink it all up without contamination. Is that like controversial or more like conversational? @Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
24 Jan 12
I appreciate the discussion and the opportunity to take part in it. My vote is for filtering and have my reasoning. I am very happy to share them both for the overall good for a community and personally if asked.
The question is where is a filter put to cover a wide audience? Yes, in some circles it seems like an overkill but words are words and filters try to find a happy ground without being to advanced in the A. I. department. Taking out a word or two is a small price to pay for the benefits I think.
I see a relationship between filters and youth but that is never the only criteria. There are others that apply to mature people as well. Filter by the way are not exactly censoring are they? Is that not an overkill expression for a filter? 
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
24 Jan 12
Correction the second last sentence should have been.. "Filtering by the way is not exactly censoring." - sorry
It does not apply to starting discussions but in comments there is a choice to turn it off or on. The individual can choose. I think that is key here choice. I have a choice to accept or refuse. That is acceptable. I get to choose. That is a choice. I choose no thanks. 
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
24 Jan 12
I agree, that is why I said, "It does not apply to starting discussions but in comments there is a choice to turn it off or on." and you are right in saying that the filter applies to everyone when starting discussions.
Is it sensitive? Well doesn't it have to be to work? It is only a filter not a big deal in my mind.
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
25 Jan 12
@PurplePeopleEater - I wouldn’t know that since I’ve never had it turned on but now that I have been in informed I can see how I have been mistaken in assessing this situation. Excuse me!
Correction: Some words are rejected that apply to everyone.
I like the way mylot presently works and unless I can see the big advantage for changing this feature would like it to stay that way. My vote is,
DO NOT CHANGE THE MYLOT GUIDELINE FILTER!
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
25 Jan 12
I have been censored / stopped because of that word myself and thought it to be a bit ridiculous. After all it is a person's name and not just a part of the male anatomy. I feel like the proper term for the male anatomy should be censored, but as for the slang? No.
Yes, sometimes even language that is considered foul is censored, I can understand why in one way but in another as you said we are adults. It should only be censored if it is obsessively used in one discussion / response / comment and that should really go for everything.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
30 Jan 12
There is one example that I can really think of where this has happened to me. You see, my dog that I had to put to sleep last year was a Black and Tan C00n Hound, which is a breed name that is recognized by the ASPCA. However, whenever I was trying to talk about Michela, I was told that C00n was a word that was not allowed to be used on mylot. I don't understand at all why that particular word is censored, but it is.
@goldeneagle (6745)
• United States
30 Jan 12
The word c00n is probably censored because it was used as a slang term for black people. Just watch FORREST GUMP LOL
@NailTech (6874)
• United States
3 Apr 12
Yes, on my other site (see my profile under my web site) where I earn money I can't put down things like that, I don't even know what word it was but it wasn't even a swear word anyway you look at it. But they told me it wasn't nice to swear or something to that nature when a pop up came up. Funny though since some of the songs I have to review there (to earn money) have much more worse swear words in them than that.
@beamer88 (4259)
• Philippines
24 Jan 12
I encountered this once when I tried typing c_m laude. Actually, I thought they were filtering non-English words since I used Latin words. It made me laughed a bit when I realized that it was filtering the slang word c_m. Although it does seem like extreme, I guess it's the only way to prevent the possible abuse of these somewhat double entendres.
