Edit: TL;DR since people asked for it
I wanna ask people how they feel about the "Creepy Comments" Clause.
1. Why do we have to call people who may simply be ignorant, or made honest mistakes,'Creeps'? Isn't that incredibly rude?
2. Why does this policy extend to NSFW images? Things that are 'Sexually Inappropriate' in typical public settings become entirely appropriate in Public Settings with proper context.
3. What are people expecting to read in comment sections of NSFW images if not NSFW comments? I, and certainly many others, enjoy reading such things and sharing such things for others to read. What kind of 'constructive comments' can you make about NSFW images with such severe limitations on language?
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So,
I'll be upfront, got hit with a couple of Feedbacks for some comments I made and a few others when I first started here and still learning what is and isn't appropriate here. I'm not gonna whine and try to convince the staff to change the rule, because we all know that isn't going to happen any time soon, and more than likely never will.
What I DO want to talk about is how people FEEL about the policy and Why they feel that way. In the following paragraphs(the number of which I can't guess at as I'm typing stream of consciousness), I will ask some questions that I hope will spark some engaging conversation to be had about the policy and hopefully enlighten others, like myself, who have broken the rule without realizing, and have come here looking for answers. And yes, I have already read several threads on the topic, but given they had some age on them, I felt it would be inappropriate to drag people back to those threads that they likely thought were dead to add points that I thought were skirted around or not discussed thoroughly or otherwise wanted to participate in.
And to be clear on this matter: I will only be speaking about "Creepy Comments" in the context of explicitly NSFW images. I absolutely agree that NO ONE wants to read "Creepy Comments" on SFW images.
First of all, and I think the thing that most people, such as myself, take the most issue with- The name of the policy. I suspect that the name is purposefully chosen to shame people who post said comments after they've been reported. This feels INCREDIBLY inappropriate. It labels people who make honest mistakes as 'Creeps', when what qualifies as 'Creepy' is incredibly subjective not only in content, but Context. What is creepy in a church is not creepy in an Adult Theater, for example. I could just as easily call people who want to give an in-depth review of the curvature of every line and shade of every hue of an NSFW image as 'Creepy' as others could do to someone who says simply "I wish that was me". Do people making honest mistakes deserve to be called 'Creepy'? Definitely not, and insulting even one person who makes an honest mistake just to shame the 9 others who do so knowingly is one person too many. One person who may be discouraged from even bothering to find an appropriate way to interact with the comments. The rule is in place so that people who do not wish to be offended by these comments can avoid being offended, yes? So why is it appropriate to offend others to accomplish this purpose?
Nextly, why is this policy applied to NSFW Images? The rule states "Sexually Inappropriate" as one of the criteria for "Creepy Comments"- how does one determine what is "Sexually Inappropriate" in the context of a Sexually Explicit image? "Sexually Inappropriate" is a phrase we use to label behavior in non-sexual settings. You wouldn't call Masturbating in front of a Sex-Partner inappropriate when all participating parties have consented to the activity, would you? In the same vein, if not the majority, at the very least MANY people will make the assumption that sexual comments under a sexual image would be entirely appropriate, as the comments are being put into context by the image itself. As I said above, a comment such as "I want to suck them tits" would be entirely inappropriate on an image depicting a Man or Woman fully clothed in a public setting with no sexual implications. When viewing an Image depicting that very act, however, many people would assume the content of the image provides context for the comment, and thus makes it appropriate. A big argument I've seen in past threads is "No one wants to read your sexual fantasies" which is a fallacy. I myself can single-handedly render that argument inert by saying truthfully that /I/ am certainly interested in reading the fantasies of others when in the right environment. An environment such as the comment section of an image depicting a Huge muscle-bound Himbo committing indecent acts with a smaller male companion. Certainly there are MANY people who may not be interested in such commentary and that is entirely valid, but... that brings me to my next point actually.
What, if not comments of people relating to explicitly NSFW images, are viewers of these images expecting to read in the comments? This is the question that has been burning me the most, to be honest. In pools for comics you can talk about the plot perhaps, and you can certainly say how much you enjoy a particular artist but... what does that leave? "I love this image so much!", "Great colours, fantastic use of lines!"... that's really as much as I can think of that doesn't begin to delve into the territory of speaking about how much you enjoy particular parts of what the image is depicting, which then falls under the "Creepy Comments" clause. So many images I look at are COMPLETELY DEVOID of comments, which I believe is in large part due to the fact that the site has banned people relating to the imagery. We're not allowed to seek out people that share our specific interest in the imagery because we're not allowed to express exactly what it is about the image we find so alluring aside from colours, lines, and perhaps what parts of the bodies you like, if you manage to do carefully enough to avoid accidentally infringing on the rule and being called a "Creep" for your mistake.
I think I will leave it at this. I am sure if any comments are made, more will come to my mind as I respond. I look forward to discussing this!
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