User blog:Imamadmad/My Stance on Swearing

Warning: by its very nature, this blog post includes swears of various intensities as it is not always clear what one means when using a censored version. If you do not want to read swear words, then don't read on and don't complain about them being used here if you do read on, because you have been warned.

Ok, so swearing has become a hot topic on this wiki in the past few days and comments on the topic are becoming scattered throughout various blog posts, so I feel I'm more likely to get people's attention and get them to listen to my reasoning by just making another blog post. However, I think that any major discussion of the idea of what is effectively a policy surrounding swearing should be discussed in the forum environment rather than the blog one because of the way notifications work in the forums compared to blogs, and also because of the more linear structure a conversation takes when confined to one thread as opposed to scattered throughout many different comment threads. I'll make and link a forum thread at the end of the post where people can go and express their practical suggestions for an idea that can actually be implemented on this wiki. Why don't I just go start the discussion in the forums in the first place, you may ask, instead of making this post? First of all, people on this wiki seem more likely to see and respond to blog posts, and secondly this post in particular is aimed at sharing my view on swearing on wikis rather than actively try to find a good policy.

Those who don't like swearing, leave now. You have been warned. You cannot punish me for swearing later on if you ignore this warning.

First let me start with my own opinion on swearing. Personally, in everyday life, I have no problem with it. None. I swear quite a lot, to be honest, and if you catch me in a particularly foul mood then quite a large proportion of the words I use happen to be on that little list. However, although I am completely fine with hearing swears of just about any intensity, even being desensitised to the C-word (the really bad one, not "cock") through A Song of Ice and Fire (which is a really good book series by the way, despite some characters having very strong language usage), I am completely against slurs. Slurs are words which degrades a certain set of people. Slurs include words such as N*gger, Fa*, and even Ret*rd. Also, using the word "gay" as an insult rather than just as a neutral description of an individual's sexual preferences is a slur. Using these sorts of derogatory words are a huge no-no and reveal the person using them to be an insensitive bastard. There's really no harm in swearing and really; they're just words: however, slurs shouldn't be used under any circumstance because they are directly offensive to a certain set of people and the words foster a sense of the group being named being lesser than everybody else, which is discriminatory. The use of slurs will immediately lower my respect for you by a long way.

Now that I have discussed my opinions on swearing and sluring in everyday life, it's now time to view these ideas in a wiki setting. Ever since first coming to Wikia, I have had the sense that a much more formal use of language is required here as opposed to when just chatting with friends. Trying to live up to this standard has made me kick many bad writing habits, such as writing "you" as "u" and never capitalising, as well as it having improved my writing style in general. Maybe you don't feel it as much on this particular wiki where the demographic seems to me much younger than the demographic frequenting the first couple of wikis I hung out at, but to me the idea of swearing on a wiki just doesn't fit in with the tone of voice the wiki is trying to achieve. You wouldn't in the comments on a level write "I hate this fucking level" any more than you would write "u r da worst level evar nd i spent 4eva trying to beat u". If you write as either the former or the latter example here, then shame on you! Granted, the article comments enabled on this wiki bring about a much lower level of language from casual readers than one might usually expect from actual regular wiki editors, but I would still equally dislike language of both examples when used in the Wikia environment, both the swearing and the painfully bad and just plain lazy spelling and grammar. You see, my argument about swearing on wikis isn't that swearing is bad, but rather that it brings down the tone of one's writing to a level I wouldn't consider appropriate for the wiki environment.

Now I've given my opinions on swearing in the wiki environment, I may as well say what I have actually actively done in the past in regards to swearing. Although in general I don't have much of a problem with swearing and my only aversion to it personally when seeing it written on wikis is that the writer isn't very good at writing because they had to result to something as basic as swearing to get their point across, I do understand that many people are offended by swearing. I haven't had the need to deal with any swearing on this wiki, but I have on others I have adminned on, such as DWA. My general response when people write things which others might not want to see, from swearing to spoilers outside of spoiler-alerted environments, is to censor the offending word itself and write the user a message on their message wall telling them that that sort of behaviour is considered unacceptable on that wiki and that repeat offence can bring about blocking. I don't think there has ever been a repeat offender who has had to be blocked for their language alone. Sure, there have been vandals that have used swears as part of their vandalism, but they get blocked under vandalism rather than swearing. It's always best to leave either your block or deletion reason as the rule that has the least uncertainty surrounding what it applies to.

Now it should be time to discuss what words are considered swears by this community so we know everyone's on the same page when discussing what to do about the, So let me first get up the list of words that Jianhui67 thought were inappropriate and the corresponding block times, except I am uncensoring most of the words for clarity.


 * Shit (If one says that, one will be blocked for 1 week.)
 * Bitch (If one says that, one will be blocked for 1 week.)
 * Fuck (If one says that, one will be blocked for 1.5 weeks.)
 * Slut (If one says that, one will be blocked for 1.5 weeks.)
 * This isn't a swear but a slur, so it's staying partially censored: N*gger (If one says that, one will be blocked for 2 weeks.)
 * Another slur: Fa* (If one says that, one will be blocked for 2 weeks.)
 * Ass/asshole (If one says that, one will be blocked for 3 weeks.)
 * Dick (If one says that, one will be blocked for 3 weeks.)
 * Cock (I think) (If one says that, one will be blocked for 3 weeks.)
 * Yeah, not uncensoring this. If you don't know what it is, it's probably for the best. C-word. This is the most vulgar word in the English Language. USAGE OF THIS WORD WILL RESULT IN A 1-MONTH BLOCK WITHOUT ANY WARNING.

I don't entirely agree with this list, and to be honest some of the ordering of words seems kinda funny to me. As I have already said, I consider the slurs to be by far the worst language used in that list because they are derogatory to certain demographics other than just the object on the receiving end of the word and are therefore always insulting regardless of the situation. After that, culturally speaking, shit, fuck, ass, and the C-Word are the next worse, although not in that order. And finally, when it comes to bitch, slut, dick, and cock, I think they are inappropriate, however not blockably bad as long as they aren't directed towards an individual. There is a certain user on Wikia whom I hold a lot of respect for who have seen use the word bitch in relation to a particularly difficult piece of code. He wouldn't be blocked, at least not by me, at a place where I admin because the word is being directed at an inanimate piece of code rather than being used as an insult towards an individual.

If anything, that should be the main factor discussed when looking at these sorts of rules; stopping language which insults, discriminates against, or otherwise offends people, while maintaining the freedom for people to express their thoughts and views as long as they don't hurt anybody. I also think that people should try and be more tolerant and more mature about this situation, both in trying not to swear when it is unnecessary and in trying to tolerate others who do swear, especially in milder forms, as long as there is no direct insult. Really, that is the message that should be taken away from this situation; tolerance. If people are being offensive, then block them for that, however in neutral situation, they're just words. You may think sticks and stones are an eyesore in an otherwise pristine garden, but they aren't causing any damage and removing them could cause greater offence to the people who tried to artistically arranged them on the lawn. Same goes with these words. If the words aren't written with the intent to offend, more offence will be brought to the situation by trying to censor those words. A friendly note on a user's message wall that we prefer people to not use that sort of language here as some may deem it offensive, especially younger readers, and could they please reword their post to not include the offending word, should deal with the problem most of the time. Remember to keep the tone friendly and not accusing, and most people should be happy to change it. If they instead reply with a personal attack on the person who notified them, then you can block them for that purpose. But always give a person the chance to fix things first. Sometimes things are said in the heat of the moment which a person didn't really mean. Most people will try to put things right if somebody points out a problem with something they've done. That's why no matter what is decided, the first reaction to any breaking of the rules should be to let the offender know and give them a chance to fix things. Never do instant blocks. Not even for the C-Word.

PS, I declare the comments section to this blog post a swearing allowable zone, continuing the tone of this post itself as it makes things so much easier when trying to discuss this situation if people can just say what they're talking about rather than having to dance around the subject. Yet again, if you are the sort of person who dislikes reading swear words, just don't read the comments of this article. You have been warned, and this warning negates any blocks which may be imposed under normal circumstances relating to swearing.