This is dumb

[clevermanka]

And not just dumb because of the use of the word "fuctionality," which should be fucking banned.

Click here to read about the new, exciting "Adult Settings!"

Especially the bit about being able to tag other users entries as inappropriate? Can you imagine? WTF. Seriously.

Six Apart has certainly done their bit of damage to LJ. I hope the original creators are happy with the money in their pockets, because it's gone downhill ever since Six Apart took the reins.

I will not be tagging my LJ as "Adult" or whatever the fuck that means. Get real. I'm an adult. Occasionally I will refer to things that pertain to, oh, I don't know...Adults. Six Apart can damn well keep their nose out of my LJ.

To check your own settings, go here: http://www.livejournal.com/manage/settings/

From rougewench's LJ:

As starstraf noted in comments, one of her friends said the following:

"Some of you may know that you can now set your journal to either "Adult content" (which blocks viewers under 18 from viewing) or "Adult concepts" (which blocks readers under 14). There are also options to flag someone journal as "adults only", which puts it into the queue to the moderators who will look at it and flag it for you.

As a default setting, they have EVERY SINGLE JOURNAL set to filter out the "adult content" setting! So if your friends try to do the right thing and mark their porny LJ's appropriately, you CAN'T SEE THEM until you change your viewing settings. Which is kind of hard to figure out how to, even if you know you have to in the first place.

Go to your User Options page, and click on Journal - settings. The Viewing Options page will appear, and all the way at the bottom is a section called "AdultContent Options". Your "Safe Search Options" has been set to "use moderate filtering - filters explicit and adult content".

So if someone on your F-list has recently dropped off the map and you have no idea why, try going here and changing your settings. Otherwise, if their LJ is set to "adult" you won't be able to see any of their public entries on your friends page."

Comments

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

They have had the "inappropriate" thing on blogger forever. I always thought it was stupid. People should take some responsibility for using off buttons and such.

[nataliesee.livejournal.com]

This is ridiculous. Almost as bad as "kudos" on myspace.

Also, I've just realized that I can read some of the kanji in your icon! I'm made of awesome! ;)

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Here's what I posted over there:

You've got to be kidding.

If Six Apart is worried that young people might read something written by adults, it needs to create a separate "Kiddie Area" where young people won't have their minds polluted by grown-up thoughts.

Oh, and they should also offer special "LJ Kiddie Firewall" software for parents to load onto their children's computers. This new feature (er, "functionality" for those who like jargon) will help prevent kids from seeing anything written by adults - or even by kids but inappropriate for other kids to read!

Even better, how about this: Six Apart joins forces with the Chinese regime to learn how best to manage and control information for young people. Yay!

C'mon, Six Apart, do you seriously think kids can't find really graphic, inappropriate things on the Web? Do you really think flagging journals is appropriate? Or is it that you really enjoy the concept of censorship?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I don't think they enjoy censorship. I just think they're cowards who don't want to deal with whiny, irresponsible parents.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I just flagged their post as "Offensive Content."

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

That's awesome.

[tessagratton.livejournal.com]

LOVE.

L.O.V.E.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

I hope lots of people do. Maybe they'll learn something.

[theslice.livejournal.com]

I did the same as I find their sort of behavior offensive.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Yay! Partners!

[rougewench.livejournal.com]

Actually I think they are only doing this to cover their asses from lawsuits.


D.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Obviously. But that doesn't change the way I feel about it.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure, but why should they have to worry about lawsuits unless they think they own our content? If they think that, this bodes even worse.

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's drivel...

And I did set mine to adult contect, because you know, I occasionally say FUCK and talk about sex and all.

Stupid Fuckers.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

I went to the "click here to read" LJ link. In the comments are some of the *best* icons I've ever seen, like an FSM Santa and some really amusing comments.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Oh and just for fun, I am in an old login screen, so if I go to my journal, there is no flag up in the toolbar at all.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I'm not setting my content to adult. I believe in equal opportunity mental defloration.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

*clink*

Solidarity, sister.

[stuology.livejournal.com]

your settings. Otherwise, if their LJ is set to "adult" you won't be able to see any of their public entries on your friends page."

I just now caught this big change since I actually stayed off of LJ for the entire work day!

Anyhow, since I did not have my age set up in LJ, it assumed that I was under 18. I only had one entry that it affected and I could see that there was an entry, but I couldn't read it. Instead I got a notice that it contained content that was offensive and I had to click a button verifying that I was over a certain age.

Then I set up my age to be 18, and told it to filter adult content, and I could still see that there was a post. It was an LJ-cut with the warning telling me it contained adult content. I could click on it and still read it.

[stuology.livejournal.com]

This time, I set my age to be below 14 and tried again. I could still see the post with inappropriate content with the warning that it contains adult content. What I didn't have was a button to confirm I was old enough to view it. So, all the youngsters have to do is lie about their age.

It is just a lame attempt to cover their asses. I don't mind allowing users to change these settings in their own journal. I don't like being able to report other people, even if it doesn't automatically change content to adult only but only sends it to a review group. Giving a small group the power to decide which content is appropriate for which audience is censorship even if the intentions are good. Plus, there is a good number of people on LJ who are adult in age, but not adult in mind. This will just fuel more drama. Good luck to that review group trying to keep up with requests.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mac_/]

The appropriate way to implement this would be to have every users "Adult Content Options" unset until the first time that they attempted to view a journal entry that is labeled "Adult" which would then prompt them to set their preferences permanently.

There are a lot of LJ communities for linking hardcore and amateur porn images and this actually sounds like a feature that the moderators of those communities have been asking for because they would like to keep minors out of their communities, but there is no automatic way to do that. Of course the dumbest thing about that is thinking a 13 yr old who wants to view porn wouldn't just set their LJ age to 18.

[emeder.livejournal.com]

Just another excuse for parents not needing to be involved in their kids' lives. Just like the V chip. . .

[bestill.livejournal.com]

But then again, there are the wacky parents who set up a fake myspace page in order to target a specific insecure teenage girl and make her think they (a made up teenage boy) like her--just so that they can later belittle her resulting in her suicide . . . now that's going above and beyond the duty of an involved parent!

[emeder.livejournal.com]

No kidding. She should be charged with the violations she *did* commit in emotionally battering that girl. I really don't understand the psychotic overactions/overreactions of parents to things that, in the grand scheme of things, just aren't that important.

[bestill.livejournal.com]

So what happens if someone gets mad at you and decides to flag you as inappropriate?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

That's something I think our good sponsors hadn't really given much thought.

P.S.

[bestill.livejournal.com]

18 is such a magical age. Overnight you are able to read "adult content" online and with the help of the U.S. Government, legally go to other countries and kill people. Whoops, did that comment make it so I should flag my remark?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

=D