YouTube is rethinking its approach to colorful language after an uproar:
In a statement to The Verge, the Google brand says it's "making some adjustments" to a profanity policy it unveiled in November after receiving blowback from creators. The rule limits or removes ads on videos where someone swears within the first 15 seconds or has "focal usage" of rude words throughout, and is guaranteed to completely demonetize a clip if swearing either occurs in the first seven seconds or dominates the content.
[...] YouTube hasn't said just what it plans to change, so it's not clear if the revised policy will satisfy those affected. For now, creators won't have much recourse beyond watching their use of cuss words. The uncertainty isn't necessarily prompting an exodus, but it is leading some video makers to reduce their dependence on YouTube as a source of income.
Personally, YT's crackdown has ruined one of my favorite channels.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Monday January 16, @04:54PM (8 children)
Fowl language is not suitable for most every day porpoises.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Monday January 16, @05:07PM (3 children)
You are damn right about that! Swearing is tolerable only at night.
The edge of 太玄 cannot be defined, for it is beyond every aspect of design
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 16, @06:28PM (2 children)
Demonetize = Demonize?
We currently worship currency, apropos appellation in my opinion.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday January 17, @03:34PM (1 child)
YouTube should try to destigmatize fowl language.
I think if they put a coil around doorways, everything that passes through that doorway would be destigmatized.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday January 17, @08:02PM
Is that like lamb's blood on the door?
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 4, Funny) by Revek on Monday January 16, @05:53PM
"The only time its appropriate is when I do it" said some schmuck at youtube who came up with this brain fart.
This page was generated by a Swarm of Roaming Elephants
(Score: 4, Funny) by mcgrew on Monday January 16, @07:10PM (1 child)
Well, considering that one is a bird and the other is a mammal, I'd say that was the worst pun I've heard all 'ear.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 17, @06:20PM
Oh nose you di'nt
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday January 16, @08:04PM
Especially if you are trying to be a decent parent around your kids [fowllanguagecomics.com].
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16, @05:10PM
all of the hip-hop on ewe toob is silenced.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Opportunist on Monday January 16, @05:43PM (11 children)
"The most offensive words on TV are the F-word and the C-word.
But I'm live tonight, so I can say whatever the fuck I like.
And these cunts can't do anything about it."
The reason this is funny is specifically because these words are "banned". Nobody would laugh if they weren't. If you normalize swearing, where's the fun in it?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday January 16, @05:58PM (4 children)
I've got news from you: cursing *is* the norm. It's okay to curse, and people who curse freely may actually come across as more honest that those who don't [psychologytoday.com].
I'm willing to believe that: I lived a good number of years in Utah, where Mormons take great pain to avoid cursing, or use ridiculous alternatives like Gosh Dangit or Fudge It, and while I generally find them nice and honest people, I've always been very uncomfortable talking to them: their speech is so polished they come across as suspicious slick-talking car salesmen or sheisters. It's truly cringe. I must prefer freely-cursing peple.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday January 16, @08:14PM (3 children)
Consider yourself, good sir, when proffering such dreadfully frightful oaths! Where's my fainting futon couch?
But oaths they are nevertheless. They convey emotion, which feels like it exposes a certain level of personal investment and vulnerability in the topic or goal under consideration -- but only at that level. So at the same time it can definitely feel like they're suppressing or polishing over stronger emotions.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday January 16, @08:46PM (2 children)
People who suppress their emotions are often frustrated. It's not a sane thing to do. Cursing it out is much healthier. I'm deeply convinced that the Mormons are only superficially happy. Deep down, if you know them a bit, it's quite obvious they're stifled by the requirements of their community, including in no small part the rigid speech hygiene.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday January 16, @09:10PM
That kind of makes sense, that they actually feel stifled rather than, er, "drinking the kool-aid". Wonder if that's actually a (confounded) sign of good mental health.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 17, @06:38PM
All the cult stuff - Mormon's included - is facade. How many times do you need to see it? Fake morality, fake virtuousness, fake happiness, fake leadership, fake wealth - and behind it, little humans just like you who for whatever reason keep flagellating themselves with the High Standards of other, fake, little humans.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16, @06:36PM (2 children)
Just leave this here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUvdXxhLPa8 [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Monday January 16, @10:40PM
Good one, but I was thinking more of this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exp54hStoGY&list=RD6ulTgP6fjfA&index=16 [youtube.com]
Answer now is don't give in; aim for a new tomorrow.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday January 17, @07:41AM
Turn on the subtitles.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by inertnet on Tuesday January 17, @09:04AM (2 children)
In my country television and radio broadcasts are never bleeped, but I would still get the joke. Being used to nothing being censored whatsoever, I perceive the bleeping in American content as ridiculous.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 17, @12:36PM (1 child)
In the right context, like in a comedy, I always thought bleeping made it funnier than not bleeping. It explicitly draws your attention to the swearing, which can be quite funny. There is (was?) a skit from one of the late night TV host shows where they'd take a speech or interview with someone of note and they'd insert bleeps into otherwise normal words, but they end up sounding like the person is swearing, things like taking a word that ends in "king" and bleeping out the first part, and the results are often pretty funny.
However, I agree, in most cases it is pretty stupid and distracting. Back in the 80s I picked up a copy of the Jethro Tull double LP Bursting Out, which is a concert recording, and between songs Anderson says one (presumably) mild word and it is beeped on the album! And if I recall, it is a pretty obnoxious beep as well. That really surprised me at the time because LPs were havens from language censorship where you'd have those "blue" recordings from the 1960s comics. I might be remembering it wrong, but I think it was a British recording so I don't know if that was standard practice back then.
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Tuesday January 17, @03:02PM
Ah, Jethro Tull, memories of my youth. I still enjoy playing aqualung in my car from time to time. I have no memory of bleeping censorship in British recordings in classics like Monty Python or Spitting Image.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Monday January 16, @05:49PM (10 children)
I can't count the number of channels where the author of the video spend an inordinate amount of time killing any hint of music that might trip the copyright trap. Like Techmoan for instance: what a joke. The guy's channel is 100% dedicated to audio gear and he has no decent music to illustrate his videos with. It's so stupid it's beyond belief. And the reason why Youtubers are so careful is because if their videos gets struck down by mistake, there's no human being at Youtube to talk to about it. And now the cuss word thing...
I'd be fine with it if Youtube wasn't the only game in town. There really is no viable alternative to Youtube, meaning what they say ultimately goes, and those who make a living out of shooting Youtube videos have to adopt the blandest, most lilly-livered content to avoid losing their pathetic livelihoods.
Youtube is yet another Google monopoly that creates 1984-levels of self-censorship, and none of our elected officials are doing a damn thing about it.
(Score: 2) by fliptop on Monday January 16, @06:08PM
As long as the content is interesting, I generally don't care. But w/ channels like Zip Ties and AvE, the reason I watch is b/c their language just makes it really funny. I mean, c'mon, when someone creates a Web page [bumblefuckerytoenglish.com] dedicated to translating your language and figures of speech, I think it's safe to say you've made it.
To be oneself, and unafraid whether right or wrong, is more admirable than the easy cowardice of surrender to conformity
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 16, @06:25PM (2 children)
>the reason why Youtubers are so careful is because if their videos gets struck down by mistake, there's no human being at Youtube to talk to about it.
Reason #1 why I don't give a shit about making money on YouTube.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 2) by srobert on Monday January 16, @07:56PM (1 child)
Don't give me that do-goody-good nonsense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 17, @11:07AM
Try this "song of great social and political import":
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends
So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV?
Dialing for dollars is trying to find me
I wait for delivery each day until three
So oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qev-i9-VKlY [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 16, @06:39PM
> 1984-levels of self-censorship
Unless obviously you are a proud little corporate fascist shilling a monetization strategy. That's the only permissible content, fundamentally.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Monday January 16, @06:49PM (1 child)
That's true. Google took down that Charlie Bit my Finger video and now I can't find it anywhere!
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 2) by aafcac on Monday January 16, @08:36PM
They are probably just testing to get Elon to buy them out.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday January 16, @07:17PM (2 children)
He could use something like this. [youtube.com] Out of copyright, no worries.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday January 16, @10:56PM (1 child)
Do you think that matters to them (the Cartel or Alphabet)?
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday January 17, @12:25AM
It doesn't matter if it matters to them, it matters if it matters to the court, and to the court, the public domain is the public domain until the congresscritters change it again.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 3, Informative) by sjames on Monday January 16, @09:49PM (2 children)
I find it funny that somehow people know to be offended but they have no idea why.
They don't even know that the words are of several different categories.
Vulgarities are insulting to the listener because the speaker is implying that they're not worth a better word. Parents didn't want children to use them because it would reflect poorly on their education and upbringing.
Curse words are literally curses. You are literally calling upon God to forsake a person or thing forever. Children were not to use them because they weren't mature enough to understand what they were asking for.
Then there's swears or oaths. Inevitably insincere. If your word is your honor, you don't want to go around making insincere oaths.
It all made some sense then. But with all of that mostly forgotten, it seems silly. It's just a bunch of people not supposed to say certain words because they're not supposed to say certain words.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 17, @11:27AM (1 child)
> You are literally calling upon God to forsake a person or thing forever.
Your friendly local post-theological[*] checking in.
Since my kind are past the whole idea of theology, it's absurd to call on God for anything. And, as it turns out, I don't curse/swear (common definition) very often. If I stub my toe it might be worth a heartfelt "Shit!", but "Ow, Ow..." usually suffices. If no one is around I don't waste my breath on saying anything.
Similar for business problems. When a sleazy competitor (who wears his Christianity on his sleeve, and in his sig) undercut me, there was no point in saying or thinking, "God Damn You to Hell!" Instead I just waited it out...and sure enough a few years later I ate his lunch (ie, contract) because we actually deliver the goods.
While I may be repressing myself (see references to Mormons up-thread), I sure don't feel that way. I'm making up my own rules (primarily based on the Golden Rule), not conforming to any community standards.
* one reference, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201102/being-post-theological [psychologytoday.com]
(Score: 2) by sjames on Wednesday January 18, @02:44PM
I would argue that the vulgarities and swearing can still be a valid thing in the absence of a god. Even the cursing represents a theoretical wish of ill will even if you don't believe there exists a god or a hell.
Interestingly, we know that the uttering of 'bad words' does have a distinct effect on pain tolerance though it's unclear why. No idea if underlying neural structures influence what words are 'bad words' or if any word one is taught is bad would do. Of course, testing pain tolerance in children to see if 'poopyhead' works for a toddler would be very unethical.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday January 17, @08:20PM
I may not be in favor of bowdlerization per se, but I get the reasoning behind it. But why do they only care about the first 15/7 seconds and not the whole video?
Now that I think about it, this explains why one YouTube channel I watch will bleep the opening couple-minute sketch, but then later during the discussion they're free to say fuck, shit, cock, etc. as much as they want. Although they'll sometimes bleep things like "pedophile" that are potentially libelous.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"