NationStates Jolt Archive

Today I posted a thread, which you can see for yourself here: http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=140804 .

The thread has a sexual subject, but I worded it in a very non-explicit, respectful and light-hearted way. Nonetheless it was soon locked for being "too racey - kids might see it".

This is really puzzling to me because this Forum shows plenty of racism, homophobia, religious and political intolerance - not to mention the enraged flaming that is constant. Is it better for kids to see this than something sexual?

Yes the thread's topic concerned oral sex - something most North American kids hear about in the schoolyard by the time they're about 10. Besides, for most people this activity is part of a loving relationship and is not at all "dirty" - it's nothing we need to shield kids from.

I think that under her job description, Steph probably was right to lock it. However, I remember with great fondness when sexual subjects could be discussed in the General Forum (without being overly smutty or rude) and I would like to see the forum like that again. I agree that irresponsibly sexual material should not be allowed here, but I do not think that this was, and I think that sex is at least as much a political issue as race, as the many, many discussions here on homosexuality would show.


So, yes... and no. Steph was doing her job by locking it, but I'd rather that she didn't have to.

As someone who almost never even ventures into the General forum as I don't get the point of most of the content there, all I can ask is why are you bringing up an issue (locking) that many people keep bringing up, that is repeatedly explained? Whether Stephistan should or shouldn't have is irrelevant. She did. And she had reasons for it. I probably would have done the same thing. While I didn't think your thread was particularly offensive (although it is not to my liking), I don't think it was appropriate.

The judgement as to whether something is or isn't appropriate - as is repeatedly said - rests with the mods. While it is true that they do not always apply the rule equally, I believe it is more due to the fact that they are inundated with this stuff. Managing an open forum is not easy. I manage one that isn't half as busy as this, and every decision you have to make is stressful as it has consequences. In this case, here we all are again, arguing a point that is irrelevant.

The fact of the matter is this - and, again, it is what others keep saying: this is a free forum provided as a free service to us NS players. It has specific rules and guidelines, with people empowered to enforce them to the best of their ability. It is free in the sense that we are lucky in that we don't have to pay a fee, and we actually get more freedom here than in most places.

But, at the end of the day this does not belong to us. Therefore, enough with the damn arguing about decisions. Every extra thread about this (and every comment in that thread) makes the decent parts of this service run less effectively (slower, bloated forum), and it takes the attention of the mods away from other things that they could be doing, like locking some of those threads propogating homophobia and racism, which are far more serious.

I don't understand why, if people want to post such things, they don't start their own web sites and blogs, which can all be done for free, and then they can say and do whatever the hell they like in those spaces, and no one will lock the items, and we won't have these subsequent threads of discussion of an irrelevancy.

You will also notice that while it was locked, it was not removed.

Just my 2c, since you asked, and I happened to see this link on the forum sidebar while checking my region and clicked on it.

Cheers

Rondebosch

[edit - typos]

In this thread and my original one, I was merely seeking others' opinions and expressing mine. Thanks for your contribution too.

This topic is already in moderation, please take it there.

Thank You
Stephanie
Game Moderator