Asterisk Fever

[Page]

I was hoping my r*cist Aunt Betty would compliment me on my w*ight loss, even though it was just the result of my d*pr*ession and all the dr*gs I was doing, but my b*p*lar dad started talking about that celebrity r*pist who was assu*lted in prison by some n*zi gang, and then my cousin started talking about her g*nder d*sph*ria and how her cat k*lled a squirrel, and then my uncle asked if cats get p*riods, so I never had a chance.

I have seen every single one of those words censored as such, and I have no idea what is going on. I know YouTubers are doing it to avoid demonetization, but what is it with everybody else? It seems this trend is especially prevelant among Gen Z, and it's very perplexing.

This is not just me ranting, I do have a discussion in mind. Does the censorship of words accomplish anything meaningful?

If you read "r*pe", do you not hear "rape" in your head? Is there any good reason to be doing this? Does it make anyone feel better?

This seems to me to be an altogether different animal from the trigger warning, which is basically there as a disclosure of the topic so that those who are upset by the topic can scroll past. But in my view, the replacement of a vowel does absolutely nothing to soften the impact of a word.

[American Legionaries]

I was hoping my r*cist Aunt Betty would compliment me on my w*ight loss, even though it was just the result of my d*pr*ession and all the dr*gs I was doing, but my b*p*lar dad started talking about that celebrity r*pist who was assu*lted in prison by some n*zi gang, and then my cousin started talking about her g*nder d*sph*ria and how her cat k*lled a squirrel, and then my uncle asked if cats get p*riods, so I never had a chance.

I have seen every single one of those words censored as such, and I have no idea what is going on. I know YouTubers are doing it to avoid demonetization, but what is it with everybody else? It seems this trend is especially prevelant among Gen Z, and it's very perplexing.

This is not just me ranting, I do have a discussion in mind. Does the censorship of words accomplish anything meaningful?

If you read "r*pe", do you not hear "rape" in your head? Is there any good reason to be doing this? Does it make anyone feel better?

This seems to me to be an altogether different animal from the trigger warning, which is basically there as a disclosure of the topic so that those who are upset by the topic can scroll past. But in my view, the replacement of a vowel does absolutely nothing to soften the impact of a word.

As you mentioned, YouTube demonetization and other such similar automated systems of control. The purpose isn't to stop the reader from reading "rape" but rather to stop a computer from detecting that the post contains the word "rape".

As prevalent as such systems have become on social media, such self censorship has become common.

[Antibox]

Nothing Gen Z does makes sense. My only guess is than non-YTers do it to avoid triggering people by not fully spelling out "no-no words".

[Rusozak]

I was hoping my r*cist Aunt Betty would compliment me on my w*ight loss, even though it was just the result of my d*pr*ession and all the dr*gs I was doing, but my b*p*lar dad started talking about that celebrity r*pist who was assu*lted in prison by some n*zi gang, and then my cousin started talking about her g*nder d*sph*ria and how her cat k*lled a squirrel, and then my uncle asked if cats get p*riods, so I never had a chance.

I have seen every single one of those words censored as such, and I have no idea what is going on. I know YouTubers are doing it to avoid demonetization, but what is it with everybody else? It seems this trend is especially prevelant among Gen Z, and it's very perplexing.

This is not just me ranting, I do have a discussion in mind. Does the censorship of words accomplish anything meaningful?

If you read "r*pe", do you not hear "rape" in your head? Is there any good reason to be doing this? Does it make anyone feel better?

This seems to me to be an altogether different animal from the trigger warning, which is basically there as a disclosure of the topic so that those who are upset by the topic can scroll past. But in my view, the replacement of a vowel does absolutely nothing to soften the impact of a word.

As you mentioned, YouTube demonetization and other such similar automated systems of control. The purpose isn't to stop the reader from reading "rape" but rather to stop a computer from detecting that the post contains the word "rape".

As prevalent as such systems have become on social media, such self censorship has become common.

A case of trying to automate censorship with too broad of a brush, which causes creators to look for ways to get around the algorithm, and that spills over into the culture as viewers become accustomed to seeing things that way.

To get to the root of the problem though, one needs to ask why they originally felt the need to "blacklist" so many words from the search algorithms.

[DeMoNiC sAtAn]

Its probably just like slightly censoring curse words; you want people to know what you are saying, but you don't want mods/scanners/anyone who could penalize you to see its a curse word.

[Sordhau]

Just another reason not to use social media.

[American Legionaries]

Just another reason not to use social media.

Says you, on social media...

[Nilokeras]

I have seen every single one of those words censored as such, and I have no idea what is going on. I know YouTubers are doing it to avoid demonetization, but what is it with everybody else? It seems this trend is especially prevelant among Gen Z, and it's very perplexing.

Almost every platform that you'd see posts from people, from Instagram to Facebook to Twitter, has these sorts of automated moderation tools. They were developed post-2016 and especially during the pandemic as a scrambling attempt by tech companies to try and deal with endemic harassment and 'misinformation', but of course they don't work very well - they ignore context and flag almost everything that contains those specific words, leading to a lot of false positives. Combine that with tech companies' notoriously untransparent, slow and arbitrary appeals processes and you're seeing the result - people coming up with elaborate ways to discuss real things without getting swept up.

Just that simple. No need to allow yourself to get swept up in boomeristic knee-jerk reaction about it.

[Sordhau]

Just another reason not to use social media.

Says you, on social media...

Neither forums nor chat rooms constitute as "social media", as there are several important distinction between them - most notably the lack of anonymity on social media.

[Sordhau]

I have seen every single one of those words censored as such, and I have no idea what is going on. I know YouTubers are doing it to avoid demonetization, but what is it with everybody else? It seems this trend is especially prevelant among Gen Z, and it's very perplexing.

Almost every platform that you'd see posts from people, from Instagram to Facebook to Twitter, has these sorts of automated moderation tools. They were developed post-2016 and especially during the pandemic as a scrambling attempt by tech companies to try and deal with endemic harassment and 'misinformation', but of course they don't work very well - they ignore context and flag almost everything that contains those specific words, leading to a lot of false positives. Combine that with tech companies' notoriously untransparent, slow and arbitrary appeals processes and you're seeing the result - people coming up with elaborate ways to discuss real things without getting swept up.

Just that simple. No need to allow yourself to get swept up in boomeristic knee-jerk reaction about it.

I mean I was putting asterisks in cuss words on ROBLOX back in 2009 so it's not like this is a new phenomenon.

[American Legionaries]

Says you, on social media...

Neither forums nor chat rooms constitute as "social media", as there are several important distinction between them - most notably the lack of anonymity on social media.

I don't see much of a divide there, I can make a Twitter named Bob Bobson with no picture, and I can and have shown photos of myself and shared personal information here on NSG.

[Kyhun]

Says you, on social media...

Neither forums nor chat rooms constitute as "social media", as there are several important distinction between them - most notably the lack of anonymity on social media.

wdym by lack of anonymity? i've had plenty of accounts on both twitter and instagram that have little to nothing about myself IRL on it. my "main" twitter for my political spats with people is pretty much completely anon outside of people i know that i've told about the account.

[Nilokeras]

Almost every platform that you'd see posts from people, from Instagram to Facebook to Twitter, has these sorts of automated moderation tools. They were developed post-2016 and especially during the pandemic as a scrambling attempt by tech companies to try and deal with endemic harassment and 'misinformation', but of course they don't work very well - they ignore context and flag almost everything that contains those specific words, leading to a lot of false positives. Combine that with tech companies' notoriously untransparent, slow and arbitrary appeals processes and you're seeing the result - people coming up with elaborate ways to discuss real things without getting swept up.

Just that simple. No need to allow yourself to get swept up in boomeristic knee-jerk reaction about it.

I mean I was putting asterisks in cuss words on ROBLOX back in 2009 so it's not like this is a new phenomenon.

No but this is certainly the first time large segments of the population are having to navigate algorithmic moderation like this.

[Free Hyperborea 2]

I was hoping my r*cist Aunt Betty would compliment me on my w*ight loss, even though it was just the result of my d*pr*ession and all the dr*gs I was doing, but my b*p*lar dad started talking about that celebrity r*pist who was assu*lted in prison by some n*zi gang, and then my cousin started talking about her g*nder d*sph*ria and how her cat k*lled a squirrel, and then my uncle asked if cats get p*riods, so I never had a chance.

I have seen every single one of those words censored as such, and I have no idea what is going on. I know YouTubers are doing it to avoid demonetization, but what is it with everybody else? It seems this trend is especially prevelant among Gen Z, and it's very perplexing.

This is not just me ranting, I do have a discussion in mind. Does the censorship of words accomplish anything meaningful?

If you read "r*pe", do you not hear "rape" in your head? Is there any good reason to be doing this? Does it make anyone feel better?

This seems to me to be an altogether different animal from the trigger warning, which is basically there as a disclosure of the topic so that those who are upset by the topic can scroll past. But in my view, the replacement of a vowel does absolutely nothing to soften the impact of a word.

I really don’t think it has a significant effect at all. I see it all the time now and it’s so silly and unnecessary I don’t understand why my generation doesn’t have the think skin that past ones did but it’s quite embarrassing.I remember a discussion recently where this girl in my class was upset that our teacher didn’t start the topic with a “trigger warning” when talking about alcohol and smoking.People need to grow up and realize there’s a lot of messed up stuff in the world.

[Niarj]

Says you, on social media...

Neither forums nor chat rooms constitute as "social media", as there are several important distinction between them - most notably the lack of anonymity on social media.

Technically, chat rooms and forums are as much social media as any other social media platform. They are all about socializing with other people online, and what you said about anonymity is simply false. There is no anonymity on the any part of the Internet, as all of it is monitored. Also, how do you think that NS prevents people with multiple accounts from joining the World Assembly? It wouldn't be possible without utilizing browser identification and other such measures. As stated by American Legionaries, accounts on Twitter are just as "anonymous" as an account on NS using an alias. Neither are anonymous at all, but by your basic standards that ought to be enough to show that they are both up to your standards of anonymous. Additonally, what do you think you are doing every time you make a post to NS? You are providing information about yourself, your beliefs/politics, your interests, your habits, or even simply providing samples of your stylometry simply by posting anything at all; interacting with forums are just as bad for opsec as social media and you clearly don't understand the concept of anonymity or you wouldn't be on here.

You just don't want to identify yourself as a social media consumer by browsing forums, simply because you believe you are somehow more distinguished than those immature children using other social media platforms. Admittedly, this is still better than most social media platforms and you certainly would not catch me dead using most anything else. However, to call a chat room or forum "not social media" is simply untrue, and citing "anonymity" as a reason is ignorant at best. Not to mention that anonymity is impossible online, and it takes incredible discipline to even reach a level of pseudonymity.

[Kyhun]

I was hoping my r*cist Aunt Betty would compliment me on my w*ight loss, even though it was just the result of my d*pr*ession and all the dr*gs I was doing, but my b*p*lar dad started talking about that celebrity r*pist who was assu*lted in prison by some n*zi gang, and then my cousin started talking about her g*nder d*sph*ria and how her cat k*lled a squirrel, and then my uncle asked if cats get p*riods, so I never had a chance.

I have seen every single one of those words censored as such, and I have no idea what is going on. I know YouTubers are doing it to avoid demonetization, but what is it with everybody else? It seems this trend is especially prevelant among Gen Z, and it's very perplexing.

This is not just me ranting, I do have a discussion in mind. Does the censorship of words accomplish anything meaningful?

If you read "r*pe", do you not hear "rape" in your head? Is there any good reason to be doing this? Does it make anyone feel better?

This seems to me to be an altogether different animal from the trigger warning, which is basically there as a disclosure of the topic so that those who are upset by the topic can scroll past. But in my view, the replacement of a vowel does absolutely nothing to soften the impact of a word.

I really don’t think it has a significant effect at all. I see it all the time now and it’s so silly and unnecessary I don’t understand why my generation doesn’t have the think skin that past ones did but it’s quite embarrassing.I remember a discussion recently where this girl in my class was upset that our teacher didn’t start the topic with a “trigger warning” when talking about alcohol and smoking.People need to grow up and realize there’s a lot of messed up stuff in the world.

it's because some people would be really upset or uncomfortable at the thought and discussion of certain topics. especially more serious ones. maybe the girl that was upset had abusive or absent parents that were alcoholics. maybe someone close to her like a parent died because of drinking or smoking so much. You never know what people may be going through or have gone through that will forever shape them into the person they are today and how that may affect how certain topics make them feel. Nothing wrong with being upset or uncomfortable with certain topics. It's normal and happens to everyone.

also like other's in this thread have said it's likely done by most to avoid the wrath of modding bots that have little to no sense of context and will strike them down with the power of Zeus for one word whether it's in a bad connotation or not.

[Niarj]

I really don’t think it has a significant effect at all. I see it all the time now and it’s so silly and unnecessary I don’t understand why my generation doesn’t have the think skin that past ones did but it’s quite embarrassing.I remember a discussion recently where this girl in my class was upset that our teacher didn’t start the topic with a “trigger warning” when talking about alcohol and smoking.People need to grow up and realize there’s a lot of messed up stuff in the world.

it's because some people would be really upset or uncomfortable at the thought and discussion of certain topics. especially more serious ones. maybe the girl that was upset had abusive or absent parents that were alcoholics. maybe someone close to her like a parent died because of drinking or smoking so much. You never know what people may be going through or have gone through that will forever shape them into the person they are today and how that may affect how certain topics make them feel. Nothing wrong with being upset or uncomfortable with certain topics. It's normal and happens to everyone.

also like other's in this thread have said it's likely done by most to avoid the wrath of modding bots that have little to no sense of context and will strike them down with the power of Zeus for one word whether it's in a bad connotation or not.

But, as others have already stated, you can still read and hear the words for their real meaning even with a letter or two censored. It certainly can help in preventing mods from striking down messages, but it doesn't make sense to be used to help sensitive people who don't want to read about information which may invoke an emotional response; they can still perfectly understand the message, and by the time they would realize what it is talking about, it would be too late for them to back out of reading the post without those emotions being invoked.

[Kyhun]

it's because some people would be really upset or uncomfortable at the thought and discussion of certain topics. especially more serious ones. maybe the girl that was upset had abusive or absent parents that were alcoholics. maybe someone close to her like a parent died because of drinking or smoking so much. You never know what people may be going through or have gone through that will forever shape them into the person they are today and how that may affect how certain topics make them feel. Nothing wrong with being upset or uncomfortable with certain topics. It's normal and happens to everyone.

also like other's in this thread have said it's likely done by most to avoid the wrath of modding bots that have little to no sense of context and will strike them down with the power of Zeus for one word whether it's in a bad connotation or not.

But, as others have already stated, you can still read and hear the words for their real meaning even with a letter or two censored. It certainly can help in preventing mods from striking down messages, but it doesn't make sense to be used to help sensitive people who don't want to read about information which may invoke an emotional response; they can still perfectly understand the message, and by the time they would realize what it is talking about, it would be too late for them to back out of reading the post without those emotions being invoked.

The part about helping people who would be upset about these things was more about Hyper's thoughts on Trigger Warnings. I think that the censorship of such words is more to avoid mods and less about upsetting others tho some may use it to not upset others and i agree that it does not do that job.

[Niarj]

But, as others have already stated, you can still read and hear the words for their real meaning even with a letter or two censored. It certainly can help in preventing mods from striking down messages, but it doesn't make sense to be used to help sensitive people who don't want to read about information which may invoke an emotional response; they can still perfectly understand the message, and by the time they would realize what it is talking about, it would be too late for them to back out of reading the post without those emotions being invoked.

The part about helping people who would be upset about these things was more about Hyper's thoughts on Trigger Warnings. I think that the censorship of such words is more to avoid mods and less about upsetting others tho some may use it to not upset others and i agree that it does not do that job.

Makes more sense, thanks for clarification.

[The Archregimancy]

<obligatory joke about how one small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders>

[Luziyca]

As far as I know, it's partially a way to get around censorship or demonetization on some social media networks, and partially (especially when it comes to individual's names like, say, El*n M*sk) as a way to deter people from harassing you because how dare you insult the greatest person to have ever walked on the face of the Earth by making it harder for them to find your post.

[Sordhau]

As far as I know, it's partially a way to get around censorship or demonetization on some social media networks, and partially (especially when it comes to individual's names like, say, El*n M*sk) as a way to deter people from harassing you because how dare you insult the greatest person to have ever walked on the face of the Earth by making it harder for them to find your post.

I always interpreted putting asterisks in people's names as a display of disapproval by linking their name to profanity.

[Niarj]

As far as I know, it's partially a way to get around censorship or demonetization on some social media networks, and partially (especially when it comes to individual's names like, say, El*n M*sk) as a way to deter people from harassing you because how dare you insult the greatest person to have ever walked on the face of the Earth by making it harder for them to find your post.

I always interpreted putting asterisks in people's names as a display of disapproval by linking their name to profanity.

Yeah, when it's used for names of people/products/corporations it is pretty much always for the purpose of saying "They're so profane and disgusting, I can't even bring myself to say the actual name," or something else along those lines.

[The French Army]

Does the censorship of words accomplish anything meaningful?

No.

Fuck that noise.

[El Lazaro]

I was hoping my r*cist Aunt Betty would compliment me on my w*ight loss, even though it was just the result of my d*pr*ession and all the dr*gs I was doing, but my b*p*lar dad started talking about that celebrity r*pist who was assu*lted in prison by some n*zi gang, and then my cousin started talking about her g*nder d*sph*ria and how her cat k*lled a squirrel, and then my uncle asked if cats get p*riods, so I never had a chance.

I have seen every single one of those words censored as such, and I have no idea what is going on. I know YouTubers are doing it to avoid demonetization, but what is it with everybody else? It seems this trend is especially prevelant among Gen Z, and it's very perplexing.

This is not just me ranting, I do have a discussion in mind. Does the censorship of words accomplish anything meaningful?

If you read "r*pe", do you not hear "rape" in your head? Is there any good reason to be doing this? Does it make anyone feel better?

This seems to me to be an altogether different animal from the trigger warning, which is basically there as a disclosure of the topic so that those who are upset by the topic can scroll past. But in my view, the replacement of a vowel does absolutely nothing to soften the impact of a word.

I think this is mostly on TikTok and related media, where there’s extreme self-censorship due to the belief the algorithm disincentivizes audio and captions which use language related to sensitive, controversial, and explicit topics. It does seem, based on previous incidents, that the algorithm is very blunt with its targeting of these topics and not at all transparent about what does or doesn’t fly. Functionally, saying “Black people are affected by racism” and “I hate black people” may be the same to TikTok and will penalize the video/poster equally. Outside of that, maybe some kids saw filter evasion on TikTok and assumed common English words were actually profane.