Why the new filter?

[rebelheart]

I don't like being filtered, actually. And that my LΟL gets filtered to a LOL I find especially pointless.
maybe it's been like this for a while and I just noticed but. I don't like it.

[AngharadTy]

Because L O L is a construction that is widely overused on the internet and we don't wish to promote its use here.

A) It can be easily misunderstood by people who don't speak English natively.

B) Usually the person using it is not actually laughing aloud, but merely wishing to convey their inner amusement.

C) A lot of chatspeakers and noobs use it. As punctuation. At the end of every sentence.

It's a pity, but there's no way to set it so that it can only be used when it's actually meant--when the person is actually laughing. We need to discontinue its use by people who insist on making it puntuation, and therefore have to cull it altogether. (But if people stop misusing it, it will be removed from the filter list, in the future.)

[rebelheart]

Because L O L is a construction that is widely overused on the internet and we don't wish to promote its use here.

Firstly: We is you? Or has there been a secret mod discussion about this? Because I don't see a public thread or a vote or even so much as a single person complaining that others use the phrase too much.

A) I don't speak English natively and I don't see how it could be misunderstood by anyone who's been on the internet for more than a day.

B) And that is wrong how? Words and terms do change their meaning over time. See "spam" or "gay". If it's usually used that way nowadays, then it usually is, just as gay is usually used to describe a persons sexual orientation now and not in it's old meaning of merry/joyful.

C) I use it. At the end of a sentence now and then. To convey my inner amusement. I don't care if you think I'm a noob.

See, I would've liked so much as someone pointing out they don't like people saying it. Or, if there was a mod discussion about this you might have added it to the rules before just going and censoring people.
I still insist on LΟLing. I like to say it, I use the term IRL when I talk to my bf and I will continue to use it to express my amusement on the internet. If you think that's misuse, fine. If this is the direction this forum is heading there's not much to laugh about anyway, I guess I'll go and find a place that let's me LΟL as much as I like instead of making me cry.

[AngharadTy]

Yes, there are, on occasion, "secret mod discussions"--we have a forum where we can express concerns about various issues, and this came up. When acting in an official capacity, e.g., responding to a thread in Site Suggestions, "we" usually means "the mods." I do not affect the royal "we."

A) This section discusses why it's not always easy for everyone to understand the term. I know that you are a nonnative English speaker, but I also know that you're very handy with English, and that's not so for some of our members. And it's not always safe to assume that someone knows the meaning of something simply because they've been on the internet a while. I find myself explaining things such as: afk XD rofl =3 ^_^ and others. Never assume.

B) I personally think that lessening the impact of a term (such as "laughing out loud") isn't the same as changing its meaning. If everyone laughed when they typed L O L, then maybe the world would be a more delightful place; however, it's usually just used to indicate that they're smiling. So why not type *smiles* or =D or something else instead? Why not be accurate?

C) Did I ever say that you were a noob? Please don't take my words out of context to imply a personal insult. I did not, in fact, even think of you as I typed it. But there are some people here who've been guilty of this.

Other people should feel free to chime in to express their fondness/hatred for the term.

I don't think it's a big deal. It's just spelling something out instead of using an acronym. I'm really am sorry if you're personally hurt by it--it's not meant as a slight. We're trying to stop some of the... Neoboard-like behaviors that have crept in as of late. And as I mentioned, it'll be removed from the filter list when that does stop.

[Cheese]

I like that filter. I think it is a good idea because nothing bothers me more than the thought of people literally laughing at the most mundane of things, let all actually collapsing to the floor in fits of uncontrollable ecstacy or laughing so much that pets of their body actually fall off.

If this were my forum, some things would be filtered simply to "I lack vocabulary or imagination". But thats just me.

[/tirade]

Don't we have other filters did I hear tell? Ones for common spelling errors and other such useful and amusing things.

[Illuen]

Only one I can think of off of (that looks weird x.x) the top of my head is " no offense "

Edit: Oh well, I thought it was *confused*. I just remembered (thanks Anza) that nuff said is filtered too D:

[Seerow]

Ehh, I have to agree with RebelHeart here. I see no reason why l.o.l should be filtered.
Granted, there are a few people who overuse it, but for the most part I don't think it's that much of an issue. I use it all the time when chatting, not so much on this forum, but I do use it quite a bit.
I haven't really noticed it being overused except for a couple of cases and while it may get irritating when people use it constantly to end sentences, it's not all that hard to ignore.

[rebelheart]

It's censorship. That is a big deal. It's a very extreme measure for something as stupid as this.

And as you said yourself, there is a difference in meaning between LΟL and LOL. If I was actually laughing out loud, I would've typed that, and if I was smiling while I was typing I might've said so, but usually the term I type is what I feel is most fitting and accurate.

If people chose to join an english forum, they'll have to learn the language and also acronyms and their common use. There will of course always be questions by new people but in general this is a very helpful place and I don't think it's much of a bother to explain things now and then.

I am using the term just as you described, at the end of sentences and to express my amusement while not actaully laughing, and I'm using it a lot. So that's why I probably took this more personal than I should've.

But still it's censorship, unannounced censorship even, and everyone should take that personal, everywhere, at any time, and the world will be a more delightful place.

[adi_gallia]

I suppose I don't mind that this word is filtered. I use it occasionally and I think that in a few cases I may type it and get miffed when I realise that it was filtered. But it isn't the end of the world to find out I can't type it anymore.

I do, however, feel that maybe this should have been a forum-wide decision and not down to solely the moderators.

[dandelions]

I am using the term just as you described, at the end of sentences

Actually, no, you're not. We put the filter in mainly in response to sentences like this:
"i just spend an hour...and my fingers kill....and im really....sad now, lol "
lol is neither a full stop nor an expression of sadness.

If you're seriously desperate to say L<b></b>OL, there's very little stopping you. See, I just did. And LOLing and LOLed and any other conjugation you would like are entirely unfiltered.

If you're protesting about censorship, I would like to point out here that we have been using the word censor feature of phpBB for over a year now to correct people's spellings- and yes, to filter out certain expressions. This is nothing new, or secret. Currently, they are "no offense, but"/"no offence, but", "nuff said" and "lol". The vast majority are spelling corrections, so people can't put an a in definitely or an i in sequel. It's easier than people correcting people publicly.

[Cheese]

Welcome to the internet. Sorry to burst your happybubble but you are not in a democracy. This forum is a very rare occurance you're lucky you get as much say in the runnings as it is.

[rebelheart]

Regarding the spelling corrections, I don't think that's very helpful because people won't learn their spelling is wrong. But at least it does not change the meaning of what you want to say. There's a difference between the meaning and the spelling of a word. And I don't understand the offense filtering anyway.

If you're not filtering out all conjugations and spellings of LΟL it's even more pointless.
So people are not using the term in the way you want it to be used and you go and filter it for everyone.
Usually I'd say if you don't like the use of lol well live with it but of course you don't have to live with it, you can install a filter. It is the easy way.

I am aware this is not a democracy but at least from what I remember the mods were elected democratically. I also felt I had the right to express my opinion on forum matters so far.
When Joeno gave the script code to that german site people were outraged because there had been no public discussion before. Now this here gets implemented without public discussion and I'm told to shut up and live with it?

[dandelions]

Actually, no, it isn't pointless. We want to stop people using lol at the end of sentences meaninglessly, and in place of a full stop. You would never say "my fingers are killing me- I LOLed", but people seem to think it's fine to put "l<b></b>ol" there. People can laugh out loud all they want but in the example above I honestly doubt anyone was laughing. That one's from the aatow thread- sorry to pick on the person who posted it.

Yes, the mods were elected democratically, but I hardly think that this was important enough a decision that it needed to be done democratically.

Don't even try and compare this with the German Neocolours problem. It wasn't the scripts- they were almost public domain- it was that he let them use our name. And like I said above, you can actually still say l<b></b>ol if you really must.

And if you didn't have the right to express your opinion I could have deleted this topic- but equally, I don't have to act in accordance with your opinion once you've given it.

[Wingsrising]

For whatever it's worth (likely not much) I agree with rebelheart. The filter doesn't bother me so much as the fact that the decision was made unilaterally without any discussion. I don't think deciding what people are and are not allowed to say on the forums is "unimportant."

I remember when we decided, as a forum, to have mods in the first place. It was a pretty big decision and people were really worried about what the effect on the forum was going to be. I'm pretty sure that if anyone had suggested then that the mods should be able to filter out things that annoy them without consulting anyone, it wouldn't have gone over very well.

[Figment]

I was not a part of the discussion that lead to this decision, but I would support it as either a mod or a member of the community. People were misusing a term frequently enough that it degraded the quality of the forum, and would probably continue to do so. Something has been implemented to stop this. It may be removed if it ceases to be a problem.

It really is no different than spelling filters, as far as I can see, in purpose or intent. You say that having a filter that corrects spelling is pointless because then no one will change, but obviously people reread their posts and, I hope, would notice the change, just as I imagine they might when they see that "LOL" can no longer be forced to serve the role of the full stop.

In my eyes, its misuse is either chatspeak or severe punctuation abuse, neither of which I expect to see much of when I come to NC. If you look around the forums you see comparatively few usage of various internet acronyms, and I would really rather keep it that way. If we could have a filter that would fix semicolon and apostrophe abuse I would welcome it open-armed. If this encourages people to use full stops at the end of their sentences instead of "LOL" then I welcome it as a temporary measure, and I look forward to seeing if it works.