Final 12 months we blogged about Urban Dictionary’s concentrate on content moderation.
We knew that sustaining the unique character of Urban Dictionary would need big modifications.
Here’s what we’ve changed, and everything we have actuallyn’t changed, thus far.
Definitions are no longer moderated by volunteers. A definition was published when a majority of volunteer moderators decided it was worth publishing under the old system. We appreciate our volunteer moderators’ work through the years. As time passes, this method had become dominated by way of a noisy minority whom published abusive definitions and didn’t publish the nutrients.
We updated our general general public content directions, and detail by detail content tips, to explain what’s okay on Urban Dictionary. Generally speaking, a meaning that describes an unpleasant or term that is violent ok, however a meaning that endorses or promotes an offensive or violent term is certainly not ok.
We redeveloped our moderation system. Our moderation that is own team ratings all newly-submitted and flagged definitions, and rejects definitions that violate our content recommendations. If you notice a meaning that violates our content recommendations, please banner it, and our moderation group will review it quickly.
This task is ongoing and now we welcome your feedback. And if you’d love to join the moderation group, inform us.
Aaron PeckhamUrban Dictionary
Come early july we posted Rethinking The Dictionary and invited your feedback. To your several thousand users whom composed in, we heard you and then we wish to deal with your issues:
- You noted that offensive terms may be academic and informative.
- You adore that Urban Dictionary is both of good use and funny.
- You asked us to safeguard Urban Dictionary’s irreverence and authenticity.
A person from nyc stated:
The entire world is filled with diverse ideas and languages. re Solving “hate” or “abuse” won’t be attained by selectively deeming words that are slang be unsatisfactory for a dictionary that tries to keep pace with colloquial language because it becomes popular.
A person from Missouri stated:
You provide solution that can help individuals determine and inform by by by themselves […] although some terms are unpleasant, they should be defined to make certain that individuals can arm by themselves with information and understanding. Kids ask parents just just what words that are bad. Pretending those words don’t exist does not assist them or anybody. Informing them and educating on definitions DOES.
A user from Florida stated:
You don’t defeat evil by hiding it away, you expose it towards the light, because just then can individuals observe how bad it’s, and just then can their minds be changed onto it.
We agree with you. We all know that the world that is real be unpleasant and it is packed with unpleasant terms. Urban Dictionary can be a crucial device to know very well what those terms suggest. Knowing a word’s that is offensive can fight inequality and punishment. But there is however a significant difference between utilizing Urban Dictionary to document this is of a unpleasant term and utilizing it to commemorate or endorse a meaning that is offensive.
We’re going to perhaps not ban particular terms, and now we can’t solve hate and punishment on earth (whom can, really?). But we will make clear Urban Dictionary’s community recommendations and build better tools to enforce them. Our objective is always to assist users compose better definitions, and empower users to flag definitions which do not fulfill our community directions. We hope this may increase the all around health of Urban Dictionary.
A tremendously tiny range users have the effect of the content that is abusive desire to eliminate. Now their behavior has an impact that is outsized the remainder web site — it harms the city and often silences other voices. You want to alter that. Nevertheless the things you adore about Urban Dictionary will perhaps not alter: the irreverence, imagination and humor will stay. The job our company is doing now is designed to protect that.
We want to keep hearing from both you and welcome your commentary within the type only at that website website website link.
Rethinking the Dictionary July 7, 2020
Two decades ago, we began Urban Dictionary as being an accepted destination for everybody to share with you their language. It absolutely was meant to subvert the authority regarding the old-fashioned dictionary and to report our messy, strange, and unpredictable language because it developed. Every single day, regular individuals add 1000s of definitions, rendering it a full time income document that is cultural. Since 1999, our community has written over 12 million definitions. I’m proud that Urban Dictionary has grown to become a supply of laughter plus an irreplaceable guide made by and for the individuals.
But, within the years, on line discourse has changed, therefore have the words we’re getting.
Like many online platforms we’ve been inundated by hate speech and content that is abusive females, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, as well as other susceptible teams. Hate message and abusive content online could cause genuine damage offline. It may make individuals feel unsafe to talk up and share their language green singles prices, silencing whole categories of individuals. It is not everything we want our platform become for.