August 18: Censoring Updates
Hello!
Today, we will launch updates to our censor list. This will include a more robust list of phrases and words which should never be used in a profession, support giving setting.
Specifically, these will be geared towards:
- Reducing flirtatious comments & sexual advances
- Sharing personal information
Our goal is to continue to make 7 Cups a safe place for all users to interact! Thank you!
@Laura @Heather @GlenM @Jake @Iara just tagging some people because no one has answered the concerns other people stated yet, even if this post is on the feed.
I appreciate you Laura for the intentions.
7cups was a place where I had found relief in my initial situations but as the conversations progress; I
Thanks @Shine 16, and everyone else for feedback, looks like a fix went in yesterday afternoon and things are now much better.
Hello!
Thank you all for this feedback!
I have created a form for you to submit mis-censored items & make suggestions for things that should be censored that are not.
We want to get this right, with your help!
I suppose I should put this in the suggestion box - one place I think a censor list would be ultra-helpful is in member/listener names! I often see offensive words embedded in member names trolls choose to drag into chatrooms. There's no reason to allow words you can't say in chat, be part of a username!
(which in turn leads me to say... I know there exists a member suggestion box, but I can never actually find the link when I am trying to find it. It's only when I post something like this that I get someone post in reply the suggestion that I use the suggestion box and provide a link that I can actually do so! And it's very hard for me even to find my own old forum posts to extract it from those - the best I can do is search forums with my username as the search term, then scroll through the results looking for likely candidates. There's a LOT on this site but it's often hard to find what I'm looking for, in comparison with my experience in many other online forums.)
@Squib - you're right, the forums are frequently not as easy to sift through as we'd like. I think a forum update is in the works (though I'm not sure what it entails), so hopefully that will make it a bit easier. Until then...here is the suggestion box! :)
@anomalia - thank you!
I have to say, I'm mystified by the censor. I just finished a long chat with a member who really wanted my social media contact info. This member didn't seem to know there was a censor so obviously it didn't pick up on that. However, I got dinged for the word ugly. The censor notice is extremely jarring and intrusive. I understand the fraternization rules but the censor as it is now seems to me to be doing more harm than good. I did submit a complaint.
Censor word lists are necessarily blunt instruments - at least in this case I hope you didn't feel bad. "ugly" is certainly a word that can be used in a supportive context (e.g. "I'm sorry you had to endure such ugly, hateful words"). Whether the necessity to rephrase something every so often is too high a price for making it harder to deliver simple insults is something we can have honest disagreements about. Posts like yours do start the discussion, though; I think it's important for honest community feedback to decide what's in the gray zone and where the boundaries should lie, so I'm glad to see this feedback!
Today I was trying to send a message to Heather and it got censored 5 times. I have no idea the reason for the censor. I kept trying to change it. It said I was trying to share social media, but I was not. Now, someone has to sit and read these 5 messages and decide whether I need a coaching moment. Finally, I started over and just rewrote the message until it went through after 5 times. I almost gave up and just deleted the message altogether. I do not understand the censoring. It just causes people to rewrite things so it will get through the censor. I still do not know what word was being censored. At first, I used the word Chatzy because we were having a support mentor team meeting with Heather in a 7 cups approved room. I deleted that word and I was still censored for sharing social media even after deleting this word. I understand how this word would be banned but I was still censored and just could not figure it out. Finally, I completely rewrote the message until it went through. The point is that people will rewrite the message and figure a way for it to get their message through. Please help me to understand. I have had someone use inappropriate curse words with me that I did not appreciate and I felt very uncomfortable with this language yet it was not censored. I finally had to sadly block this person because I was not comfortable with their language. It was not censored. I am just very confused about the censor. I suggest that we have a list of the censored words so we will choose not to use the words in our discussions. If there is already a list, could someone guide me to this? I also suggest that the manpower that is used going over these censors be used for something else. This is a lot of work. I understand the need for a censor but I am not sure it is working. I know you are working on this a lot @Krinkthemellowunicorn and I thank you for all of your work on this project as well as many others. I really appreciate that
I appreciate that you are open to new suggestions and ideas and also tweaks to the censor. So, thank you for all of your hard work on this project. @Krinkthemellowunicorn.
Sorry for the frustration @Alwaysdreamin -- we are trying hard to get this right and I believe we will be making some more updates today to improve the system, continue trying to minimize false-positive (nuisance) warnings, and even make the messages a bit less startling.
These specific examples of problems all help us, so thanks.
You are very welcome. I thank you for all of your work on this project.
Sorry about that @Alwaysdreamin! What were you specifically saying? We are making continual tweaks to the words & phrases and will need to know this specifically, so that we can make the necessary changes.
As mentioned, the only time a censor report will get categorized as a feedback moment is if is said to a member or a guest in a 1-1 chat. Even at that point, it will be evaluated for context. So you have nothing to worry about :)
@Laura,
I still can't figure out what it was that was being censored this time so I completely rewrote the message. I know I have mentioned specific phrases like my phone died (when using the app.) or using I am 100% when speaking with a member but this time I have no idea what was being censored. I just completely rewrote the message. It is ok. I just wish I knew what it was that was being censored exactly so I did not use this anymore. Is there any way that we can have feedback in the pop-up that tells us what is being censored? This would be helpful. It did say that I was trying to share social media, but I was not. Thank you for your response.
I just got a blue box warning because I used the word "phone" in a sentence. I'm starting to be concerned. Am I going to be banned for using the word phone?
nobody will be banned for triggering the filter, and especially not when it's completely innocent.
lol that's right. you don't have to do anything to trigger a ban around here other than doing exactly what you're supposed to and following the rules. In 7cupsOfTea, ban comes to you!
come out from behind the sarcasm some time - i like the way you think
no :). sorry about that. we are working on a number of updates.
I do not like the new censor update. I feel like I constantly have to triple check everything I say to the people I'm trying to help. Yes, I understand the need for some censoring, but this is too much.
Ive had 2 members tell me they felt like I didn't really care because I was replying the "professional " way that 7 Cups tells us to.
I would never act unprofessional to someone in need of my help. If the member feels that I am then they always have the option to report.
The new censors stop me from sounding like a real human, instead of just a robot trained what to say.
No word is ALWAYS used in a bad way.
Social media is a huge part of all of our lives and a censor won't change that.
thanks for your feedback. if you say something that gets censored and you believe it was a false item, please report it. If you are speaking in a kind, compassionate way, you have nothing to worry about :)
Thank you!
Censorship is a really bad idea. Here's something that was just blocked in my reply to a girl who was being bullied:
poor thing. nobody deserves to get bullied
So apparently the word "bullied" is being censored. Whose idea was that ?
Also, keyword based censorship is going to create more problems than it solves. Glen and Laura are both from the same cultural and socioeconomic background, where "swearing" is harmful and taboo and only something "bad people" do.
What about the millions of people who don't grow up in Leave-it-to-beaver homes ? There are sizeable populations of people who dont know how to express themselves any other way, and who aren't offended at swear words or who don't even know that they are bad.
By cracking down on one culture's definition of "bad words", you're effectively isolating and alienating other cultures who, through no fault of their own, communicate this way.
thanks for your feedback. Could you please let us know exactly what you believe is being mis-censored using the forum above? We are working to make sure the censors are safe for the entire community!