Hi Barbara - Thanks for the link.

Wow - the site in question must be kicking themselves. Imagine having information that was deemed good enough for gifted children to use in their studies then losing the traffic because of some silly swear words. Not to mention also losing the respect of others.

I must admit - I overuse a word beginning with A alot although I do bleep most of it out. It’s a word I picked up from watching many American comedies. But, people from other countries view my blog and it might be offensive to them, so I always bleep.

Hello Catherine and Hunter,

The “site in question”, is fictitious (note the names). The reason I addressed this issue, is due to the fact that many parents block TV shows and websites…due to violence, profanity, nudity, etc.

What’s to say, a parent wouldn’t block a blog?

Hunter, that’s interesting how the guy stopped using verbiage, thinking it might be offensive. That was probably a smart move, as he may want to appeal to a larger audience.

For those of us who worry about offending others, I think it’s best to just use simple English, and avoid using “colorful (?) adjectives”.

It’s a very valid point. While I very much doubt the blogs I write will be viewed by a younger audience, I have largely avoided swear words (must double-check!).

Where I believe I may have used a profanity, I have bleeped though. I think it may be a case of getting the balance right.

I think you can go too far, and equally alienate though. I wouldn’t advocate strong or regular use of swear words. And I think bleeping is prudent anyway.

But I do see a place for straight-talking and emphasis. Although this can still be attained without extremes. I’m tempted to provide a list of acceptable bleeped swear words, but don’t feel this is the place to do so!

And its probably a very subjective area and does also pose the question of cultural differences - where perhaps a swear word is more universally accepted in one country than another.

It’s very tempting to do a blog-post on just that topic with a list!

But equally dangerous. As some potentially unacceptable words would need to be published - albeit bleeped to gauge the reaction.

Any takers?

I know someone who liberally uses swear words. Without the bleeps. Think I’ll head over and see what he says - any guesses who that is Cath?

I also thought it was real and you just changed the names Barbara!

I see what you’re saying though - there’s a huge risk of kids landing on our sites and if they see supposedly respectable adults swearing, then they’re going to think it’s ok.

Sometimes I worry when I see arguments going on in some bloggers comment sections. They attack each other and use profanities without ever wondering who they’re speaking to. And quite often I suppose, it could be a child.

Now, Ian - I know exactly which blog you mean. It seems to happen most often when he blogs about politicians and bankers - I think he loves them as much as I do.

I refrain from using swear words on my blog for many of the same reasons. The fact is, I don’t like to be around that language, I don’t want my children to use it, and I don’t think it adds anything to any blog that uses it. Then again, I feel the same way about leet speak. Improper language dumbs down a blog and disrespects the intelligence of readers.

I’m always disheartened to remember that one of my highest search engine hitting posts ranks high because I used the word suicide. The hits come from people wondering how to kill themselves. The blog has nothing to do with such a topic but that lesson has made me very aware of the power of words and keywords. I’m also very concerned by the content online. Don’t we, as a voice of the people for the people, have an obligation to make the online world a safer, healthier and overall nicer place to be?

Rebecca Laffar-Smith’s last blog post..An Australian Writer’s Australia Day

Oh my goodness. I would hate to think people looking for a way to kill themselves had been visiting my blog. That must be an awful feeling.

Tim Ferris did a post on suicide recently, so I’m wondering if he’ll attract more of the same?

I’m going to be setting up a resource for people with depression, or ptsd this year and that the thought of suicidal people posting and me not being able to help them is a big concern.

CatherineL’s last blog post..From £1 Million To Bust: How To Turn Your Business Round Again

Wow, I certainly hope we don’t all start writing our blogs with seven year olds in mind that would make for a pretty one-track reading experience. Additionally, I have three children and I write a blog that is for an adult readership. There’s millions if not bazillions of patently offensive and marginally inappropriate content out there. In the sea of all the pornography, my seven year old running across the f-word or comparable is the least of my worries. My seven year old has already heard ‘the big seven’ at school and we have had numerous discussions talking about why we don’t use those words and the consequences of doing so(as a preemptive not after the fact). It’s called parenting. Parents need to put computers in communal spaces where kids know you could be behind them at any given moment. They need to employ parental controls. If your kid is savy, it’s your job to get savier. Block my website from your kids–please. I don’t want to limit what I write because someone else isn’t parenting & helping their child navigate the dangers inherent in such an open forum. The internet is no different from any of the other media. We don’t produce movies and songs, or write books exclusively for a general audience. As difficult as it is in this day and age to moniter the messages that reach your kids, it comes with the job. Expecting authors, comedians, commentators, and the like to do it is irresponsible as far as free speech goes and just plain lazy parenting.

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I was led to this post by one of your latest post, I am glad that you are linking to your old posts as I think it was really a good chance to read this one which I consider to be one of the ethical rules of writing online.

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I’m always proud of what I write, sometimes I wish I could have been more eloquent or spelled a word correctly the first time… but I’ve never posted anything I won’t stand behind. What’s the point in writing anything if you’re not willing to take ownership.

That’s not to say that due to my not being as clear or eloquent as I wish that my meaning wasn’t misconstrued. But those errors are generally easy to correct, assuming the other party is receptive to your corrections and clarifications.

I’ve though that lots of people might stumble on my blog, in fact I know a seven year old that has stumbled on to my blog. That doesn’t change what I write on my blog. It’s my blog.

That same seven year old might go into a borders stumble across a human anatomy book, a discarded girly mag, or for that matter some other form of literary genre that contains the occasional swear word or worse.

Hmm, I said the F-word in a title a while back, have used “bad words” in posts, speak out in support for gay rights, and, being an atheist who went to a private ‘christian’ school, often express my dissatisfaction with the religious status quo and private school “standards” of education. I’d suspect a parent may find any number of reasons to attempt to block my website from their children.

If a concerned parent wants to block my website, or any website, that’s their right as a parent, though I would caution parents on using to heavy a hand on things like censorship. It’s easy to fall down that dark path… Not to mention kids when told explicitly they can’t do something will often go out of their way to do it, or find something even “worse” in the eyes of their parents.

You might guess, correctly, that I don’t care if a parent attempts to prevent their child from seeing my website.

“BTW: I do not tolerate profanity in my comment section either. I moderate all of them.”

This I also totally respect, I look at comments like coming over to someone’s house as a guest. If they don’t want shoes on the carpet, or feet up on the couch, I’m not going to disagree… that’s just rude. So if it’s a site I don’t know for certain who doesn’t mind a colorful word or two, I’m not going to go wild with it. Even if I can’t help but wonder how they can comfortably watch a good movie with out stretching out with the feet up on the couch.

I will say though… the CommentLuv plug-in makes me have to remember what my current title says. One of my first posts over on Momgrind had me a bit embarrassed afterwards when I remembered what my current title was… Luckily either I remembered to uncheck the box but forgot I did… or Vered caught and removed it. *blush* Rotten first impressions always haunt me…

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Amazing article! Detailed and very interested. I am going to recommend this blog to my friends.

Hi Chris - I’m guessing you and I are from different generations as four letter (curse) words are not the most used words in my circle of friends.

What others say, read or write is their prerogative. One great thing about blogs is, as blog authors, we get to set the guidelines.