Monday, September 19, 2005

I can't define objectionable, but I guess I'll know when I see it

Have you noticed the "Flag" button on the top of Blogger pages? It appeared with no explanation about two weeks ago. I finally clicked on it to find out more:

The Flag button is not censorship and it cannot be manipulated by angry mobs. Political dissent? Incendiary opinions? Just plain crazy? Bring it on.

Translation: The Flag button is censorship, and it can be maniputated by angry mobs.

... When a person visiting a blog clicks the "Flag?" button in the Blogger Navbar, it means they believe the content of the blog may be potentially offensive or illegal. We track the number of times a blog has been flagged as objectionable and use this information to determine what action is needed. This feature allows the blogging community as a whole to identify content they deem objectionable. Have you read The Wisdom of Crowds? It's sort of like that.

You mean, like the wisdom of the crowds that elected He Who Must Not Be Named president twice? Yeah, I trust them loads.

Note: users may click the "Unflag" button if they change their mind.

So, readers, if you find a page objectionable, keep going back repeatedly until you no longer find it offensive.

Can I flag the Fox News site as objectionable?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

"You mean, like the wisdom of the crowds that elected He Who Must Not Be Named president twice?"

exactly!

those idiots that voted for clinton are NOT to be trusted!

Jim Donahue said...

Yeah, eight years of prosperity and budget surpluses--what the fuck were they thinking?

NYPinTA said...

Please stop. You're making me nostalgic.

Al S. E. said...

I have put together a separate blog on this topic. A few visitors have implied that I may be making a mountain out of a molehill, but it seems an important issue to me.

MsYvone said...

Can I flag the Fox News site as objectionable?

~ Jim, I didnt think i could like your blog even more than I do, but that seals it! ~

Grammarian@mindspring.com said...

No, Al, you're not making a mountain out of a molehile. Censorship is an important issue, one of the most important facing us these days. Thanks for starting the blog.

What I really object to is how this could be manipulated. You could easily write a program to create blogger names that flag one particular blog, just to get people to stop seeing it.

Is there any way to get a list of "unlisted" blogs? I want to see what they are censoring.

Anonymous said...

"Yeah, eight years of prosperity and budget surpluses--what the fuck were they thinking?"

They were thinking "these asshole republicans are making us curtail spending. Just wait til we get back in power, we'll show 'em!"

course, that hasn't happened yet and probably won't anytime soon...

BWA!

Anonymous said...

What a ridiculous and frightening "feature"! Makes me glad that I'm not using blogger and subjecting my writing to the whims of the masses. (Found your blog via Flickr, by the way; I'm thom001_ there.)

Unknown said...

Where's the fun in the internet if we can't banish opinions we disagree with? I mean heck, someone with a potty mouth might need their website shut down and all.

Or someone with something dangerous like ... an intelligent mind and the will to state their opinions.

Censorship sucks.