Posts of a sexual nature are not allowed.

That’s in the rules but it appears quite a few of late have forgotten it. It’s a condition of your continued use of our forum that you follow the rules.

The recent Katy Perry thread that has now been closed is a good example of what we mean. The Sarah Beeny thread has the potential to go the same way due to the nature of the title. Please resist the temptation to be ‘funny’ as after today warnings will not be given and you’ll end up with a 2 day ban.

Swear filter avoidance is an instant banning offence too and we’ll be cracking down on that after today since there has been a recent spate of posts containing inappropriate language. You may disagree with our approach to how we’ve had these rules in place for the last ten years but we think having them has generally contributed to the success of this forum and the fact that despite it’s occasional ‘issues’ it’s regarded as one of the best online communities for mountain bikers around the world. We like that and we know that the majority of you also appreciate that and recognise the roll the rules play in maintaining that reputation.

So please, if you are typing and you start to think of ways to say something using other characters to mask the true word then you already know you are breaking the rules. That’s why it’s an instant ban offence.

Contrary to popular belief we don’t like to ban people and also contrary to popular belief very few people get banned considering the thousands of you that post every day. We really want it to stay that way. It’s a testament to the self policing nature of this forum that comes from the sense of community that you have helped to build here.

Thanks also to everyone who has been reporting the spammers to us. That is much appreciated 🙂

Hi Mark,

just a quick question, please don’t see this as me trying to be difficult (that would be deliberate trolling which is against the rules)… but everyone loves a good rant every now and then… will swearing that is picked up by the filters result in a ban, or is it specifically trying to get around the filters?

(ohh and sorry for the cartoon in the dubstep thread last week… i completely failed to notice it contained swearing in one panel.. my bad!)

If the filter blocks it then it should appear as rubbish so can’t really cause any offence. There’s the odd word that they don’t catch that we may say is out of order for it’s use. However, the deliberate task of avoiding them by mixing up the letters and using other characters is what Mark is referring to. Anyone found doing this will now be punished, as he says there’s been an increase in this and it’s time to bring it under control.

Cheers for you query Phil.

Remember though the Mods have the final call and it we believe it’s breaking the rules or causing offence then it’ll be deleted and warning or bans handed out.

no problems 🙂 just wanted to make sure people can still rant at the important things in live… delivery times, the internet taking more than 2 seconds to load a page, bosses expecting people to get on with work instead of STW and so on…

we all know a true rant wouldn’t include carefully spelt words to avoid filters… the poster would be too furious.

Swear filter avoidance is an instant banning offence too

I just use the full swear word and assume the filter will get it 🙂

It’s a bit **** if it doesn’t 😉

Edit: I just had to delete a rude word myself there, because the filter didn’t get it. Maybe the filter is **** 🙂

Depends what swear words are ‘acceptable’ though, surely?

Obviously, the C word and F words are out, but I got a 2-day ban recently, for using a word that is used to describe fecal matter. A word which wasn’t picked up by the swear filter, and one which I assumed was ok. A word which I notice many others have used before and since, without censure. I’ve had no explanation as to why I was singled out.

I can appreciate the need to keep things reasonably polite, but this is a forum almost exclusively populated by adults, no? Not that that gives anyone the excuse to use foul and offensive language, but come on. Have a read of some newspaper articles, accessible to anyone, and you’ll see more profanity being used there.

Swear-words are part of our language, culture and vernacular. The two bad ones I mentioned above have been around for centuries. The word I got banned for is merely a ‘vulgar’ term for something.

So yeah, people should show respect, but let’s keep things in proportion. And view things in the context in which they’re meant.

Personally, I’m far more offended by the use of causal homophobia and sexism on here; two things which I know for a fact put people off posting on here.

There’s worse things than a bit of swearing.

Mark has previously stated that the ‘p’ word isn’t rude. So that’s OK then.

Personally, I’m far more offended by the use of causal homophobia and sexism on here; two things which I know for a fact put people off posting on here.

There’s worse things than a bit of swearing.

Seconded

I find the occasional laddish attitude more offensive than the swearing too.

Dealing with bad language and sexist/homophobic threads are not mutually exclusive. That’s not the purpose of this post. This post is to highlight two particular areas of forum behaviour that have become an issue. The rest of the rules are obviously still just as important.

Fred, you are a special person hence you get special treatment from us 🙂

That said you’ve recently become quite a model of good behaviour 😉

Moderation in practice is hard to pin down to a purely objective approach. The very nature of discussion, comment and debate mixed in with what is acceptable to one person and not to another means that we have to apply judgement. In that case we will try and consider factors like is this a first offence? Have they been warned before for ‘similar’ behaviour etc.. We will then apply our own judgement to the case. That in itself is never going to satisfy everyone, but that’s just the way it is and like I have already said, on the whole it works. We’ve got a very popular forum that a lot of people care and are passionate about. That’s down to a combination of moderation policy and respect for the service by the vast majority of the people who use it.

In general it must be accepted that this forum is accessible by users of any age, and that means we must bear in mind that children have unrestricted access to the forum. Although the general topics covered tend to be mostly aimed at adults we all have a responsibility to consider our audience. It is not just the people we are aiming our comments at.

We can’t catch every infringement and we are grateful for the reports we get from users who alert us to posts that require our attention. In that regard the often repeated criticism from the moderated that there’s worse ‘allowed’ to continue is not actually the case at all. We don’t ‘allow’ worse.. in the majority of cases we simply haven’t been alerted to it.

This.. I may add is a very rare thread that is allowing a limited amount of discussion about moderation. There’s a very good reason why we usually do not allow any discussion or questioning of moderation on the open forum and that is simply because there is almost never a clear cut case of moderation that doesn’t result in some kind of argument. Running a forum where every moderation decision was questioned and critiqued and debated on the forum would just be unmanageable. It’s not because we think our decisions are without question is just that discussing them in here would be detrimental to the general function of the forum.

That wasn’t meant as a criticism of the moderation, by the way.
More an expression of disappointment that I expect better of mountain bikers, both on the internet and in real life.

The recent Katy Perry thread that has now been closed is a good example of what we mean.

/off to search for “Katy Perry” now…

I pointed out a spammer!

GO ME!

Please keep the humourous tags. They are dead funny.

Shoulda made this sticky in the Chat forum methinks. I missed it til it was referred to by someone over there.

All things in moderation, including moderation

At the risk of looking like trolling…. *

… this thread is begging for a list of such words that are likely to cause infractions – just so we can be sure, and , of course, characterised to avoid causing offence 😉

* – The Mods have made the principle of their mode of judged moderation clear, but not the detailed point.

For example, does the word for butt that sounds like a four legged beast of burden, and often characterised with a @ constitute a swear word??

Thanks also to everyone who has been reporting the spammers to us. That is much appreciated

rOcKeTdOg – Member

I pointed out a spammer!

GO ME!

Me too. But I also think there is some mileage in leaving the spammers in the hands of the forum. I don’t think there is any danger of people being taken in by the spammers, is there?

Too strong a swear filter is a bit too much, IMHO. Wouldn’t the TV watershed idea be a good guide, what can be said before 9pm(or whatever time the wateshed is) is fine, after 9pm not?

I think stuff posted after 9pm mis view-able before 9pm on the following days…

And it’s not the same time everywhere 🙂

Thanks also to everyone who has been reporting the spammers to us. That is much appreciated

Yay – recognition from STW towers!

I think stuff posted after 9pm mis view-able before 9pm on the following days…

Point well and truly missed. 😀

😀 – a little tired after a power-meeting this morning.

Anyway is “huge cans” allowed?

zokes – Member
Mark has previously stated that the ‘p’ word isn’t rude. So that’s OK then.

Personally, I’m far more offended by the use of causal homophobia and sexism on here; two things which I know for a fact put people off posting on here.
There’s worse things than a bit of swearing.

Seconded

Thirded. The casual homophobia and misogyny that’s allowed to pass on the forum is the thing that really gets to me. It’s also exactly the kind of thing that creates an environment that puts many people off posting.

Ghent! This is decision is totally belgium.

that’s allowed to pass

I wasn’t clear enough.. apologies.

We DON’T allow it to pass. If it’s not reported we probably won’t see it. We cannot read and approve every post. There are thousands every day. So some posts that you find offensive will always get through. Please use the report function to make us aware of any of these kinds of posts. They most certainly are not ‘allowed’.

What about swear words in the STW mag which I allow my children to read because it doesn’t stipulate adults only on the cover?

Please keep the humourous tags. They are dead funny.

+1

Has there been some suggestion of removing them? Please don’t!

I hope everyone complaining about homophobia has been reporting the posts in question.

What about swear words in the STW mag which I allow my children to read because it doesn’t stipulate adults only on the cover?

Careful, thems words be treachery I tell thee….