VULGARITY GUIDELINES

This section contains examples of vulgar, conditionally vulgar, and acceptable phrases and subjects. Synonyms of these are usually unacceptable. Gender should not be taken into account; if "men on men" is not allowed, neither is "women on men". Asterisks and other symbols cannot be used to "mask" a violation if any letters of the vulgarity are still present. "F--- you" is vulgar, but "my *** hurts" is okay.

Staff should use judgement in warning members who ask if certain things are vulgar. If the member appears genuine, the staffer should answer the question via IM or E-Mail, or refer the member to Keyword: TOS if they feel uncomfortable answering; they should also suggest that the member restrict future questions to E-Mail or IMs. If the member begins to use the "question" format to spout vulgarity, the member should be given a friendly reminder to keep such things to private communication. If the member continues, a warning is in order.

If a phrase comes up that is not listed here, use your judgement to decide whether to warn the member, and send E-Mail to your online supervisor to obtain an official decision.

Key:

VULGAR:
Unconditionally vulgar.
ROOMS:
Vulgar in room names or screen names.
ROOMS (SEXUAL):
Vulgar in room names or screen names if possibly sexual. These words are only allowed in screen names or room names if other phrases clearly make them not sexual. For instance, a member may not create a room "Oral," but "Oral Roberts" is permitted. " Slaves here" is not allowed, but "Free the slaves" is. "Jimmy69" would be fine, but "Ilike69" would have to be deleted.

OK
Acceptable. These words do not, in and of themselves, constitute vulgarity or sexual connotations.

  1. * who want *. If referring to people, this is not allowed in room names. For instance, "Men who want women" is vulgar, while " Men who want a car" is not.

  2. Bitch. Vulgar if an insultable person, place, or thing is being called a bitch. "Life's a bitch" is fine, "My mom is a bitch" is vulgar.

  3. Come/cum. Vulgar if used in a possibly sexual manner. "Cum over here" is fine, "I come when I think if you" isn't.

  4. GIF/Graphic Exchange. While not vulgar, this is not allowed in room names due to the probability of illegal GIFs being exchanged.

  5. Suck/Ass/Fart/Piss. Vulgar if used in a possibly or probably sexual/vulgar manner ("suck me", "kiss my ass", "I just farted"), or if an insultable person, place, or thing is said to be this. "The Redskins suck" is fine, "Life sucks" is fine, "Jimmy sucks" is not fine. "Nirvana Kicks ass" is OK, "Jenny is an ass" is not. "Rich is an old fart" is OK, "You should hear my brother Fart" is not. "I'm pissed off" is OK, "Piss on you" is not. Exception: A member may say that AOL, or any manifestation such as the Hosts/Forum Staff, sucks.

  6. Anti-AOL. We do not want to appear to censor members who speak out against us. Anti-AOL comments, or comments protesting manifestations of AOL such as Hosts, should not warrant a warning. However, comments which insult or harass individual Guides or AOL employees should warrent a warning.

  7. Racial Issues. Racial slurs are not allowed. Rooms promoting racism (KKK Unite) are not allowed, but discussion of racial issues (KKK Discussion) are.

  8. Hot, wet. These are borderline words. Use your judgement, and consider it vulgar if they're talking about "hot" as in sex, or "wet" as in feminine moisture. Hot men/women/cars/videos/etc. are fine, as "hot" could be referring to "good looking" or some other non-sexual thing.

  9. Nudity. Discussion of nudity is fine; nude room names are a judgement call.

  10. Sex. This is a judgement call. "Sexy" is fine, as an adjective. The word should never appear in room names or screen names as a noun (ILikeSex). In other situations, use the context to determine whether the member was committing a TOS violation. For instance, "Hey babe, anyone here wanna have sex" would be a violation. "I didn't let my child see the movie because of the sex in it" would not be a violation.

  11. Dykes/Queers. This is OK if a member is refering to themselves. If it is used "against" someone then it is warnable. However, this word requires judgement.


James Egelhof jegelhof@cloud9.net
Copyright © 1995, 1996 James Egelhof, All Rights Reserved.
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