Pretty sure it's done to avoid videos/posts being removed by TikTok/Twitter/FB and the likes. For example, you can't use or say the word "Suicide" on TikTok, that would get the video removed. So people say "Unalive" to get around that. This way, they can still talk about difficult topics without the dumb censorship.
If you're seeing it in places where that isn't an issue (like Lemmy, for example) they may just be doing it out of habit.
There was this tiktok where a woman was talking about how her cousin was shot and killed for knocking on her neighbor's door to get her kid's thing and she used "unalive" to describe it. It was very jarring to hear in such a somber context. It feels very dystopian that people have to self censor for the algorithm. Same with youtube and any mentions of covid.
A lot of this self censoring is algorithm voodoo. Nobody knows what makes these platforms mark your videos as age restricted, so people do silly stuff like say, "unalive". I've seen many videos where people use the word kill that aren't age restricted.
She went on to say kill a few minutes into the video so it might just be the start of the video. Could be legit or just what people have been conditioned to do for no reason. I've also seen youtubers specifically say that they can swear after the first 30 or so seconds of a video and not get demonitized.
So I think "kill" is fine for the Tiktok censors as it can be used in various contacts that don't necessarily mean death. Murder, suicide, and rape are definitely words that will get your content or comments removed, hence "grape" (or r@pe), "unalived". Which is a bit frustrating when educational creators can't actually talk about their specialist subjects but oh well.
It’s sounds like Orwellian Newspeak. How double-plus-ungood.
How Orwellian.
Makes sense, figured it was filter dodging. The fact it’s has made its way outside of those places is slightly annoying
I think it’s asinine. Rape is a serious subject. I find it insulting when someone “censors” the word in such a ridiculous way. Does the word “rape” make you uncomfortable? WELL, IT SHOULD. It’s sexual assault. You shouldn’t be comfortable thinking about it.
This seems kind of puritan to me. Why should I be made uncomfortable by the mention of sexual assault? Are you uncomfortable thinking about war?
Why SHOULD the word "rape" make anyone uncomfortable? IMO this kind of thinking is what leads to suppression of victim's voices. It makes even speaking about SA into a taboo thing.
In an ideal world, wed speak of SA with, at minimum, the same frequency we speak about bullying. We've seen successful efforts to lessen both the frequency and impact of bullying by speaking about it more.
I see your point, and an explanation is called for. I don’t mean “uncomfortable” in the sense that one avoids discussing rape, only that the idea isn’t a happy one. For the same reason, I don’t gleefully think about war, either. I don’t delight in its consequences.
The possible suppression of victim’s voices is a major part of the problem. Rape is an important subject and should be discussed openly, but it’s too serious to be mocked with silly attempts at censorship.
Totally agreed.
It's really shitty for people that actually want to filter triggering stuff out of their feed.
Putting in stupid characters doesn't make it any less upsetting for the people it upsets, but it does force them to see it because fuck them, apparently.
It's a shitty, entitled thing to do, and people who do it should feel bad about themselves.
Exactly what I’m thinking, it solves nothing but does create a problem.
Why can't it be normal for everyone just to use the correct words (to me it feels like it'd be kinda insulting to substitute a word like rape because it feels like then you're putting the platform above the very serious topic), then people be able to set up their own filters to filter out words like rape if they don't want to see them.
When asking people, they seem to think it is "rude" to write out the word in full and consider it a confused courtesy.
Whatever the reason, it fucks with people who have filters set to avoid certain topics or just want to skip discourse that uses rude language.
It's shitty and should stop.
it's just a silly thing people keep copying from each other.
I wish they would stop lol
It is to get around filters on more oppressive platforms. My recommendation is if you see people self censoring themselves in places where they are free to say the words, tell them to say it!
I saw a post somewhere saying that changing 1 letter can prevent it from being searched for by people who just want to troll posts with that particular word
It’s just as dumb as spelling it f**k everyone still knows what it says and no one should fucking care.
It seems pretty useless to me. The words are obviously still legible and comprehensible, so I don’t see how it has a different effect than just typing it out all the way.
I suspect sometimes they don't really think about it, it's just something they think "everyone does." But sometimes I think it's an annoying sort of virtue signalling.
No, you're right, it is stupid. I have to agree it doesn't work, since it largely fails to censor the word for those people the censor was made for. I have seen platforms that do full word censorship (like Steam) and when people post screenshots of "I ♥♥♥♥ you", the only accomplishment isn't making me not think of a slur - it's actually rationalize even harder that they did say one of either Rape or Fuck, nothing else. Congrats censorship, you went from 1 slur, to 2 slurs.
My understanding is that content creators have figured out which words trigger demonetisation of their videos (and to a lesser extent other content) so they've bowdlerised what they say to get around this. Other people presumably picked that up and used it.
I would assume it's mostly habit from platforms with content filters and uncertainty if usage of the word is prohibited despite a lack of filter. And then a dash of "online subculture"
Some proprietary social media (looking at you meta) have filter, removing any sensitive topic. So if you write rape you can't post while if you write r@pe you can.
The ridiculous result is that a health-educator talking about sexual health and condoms will get censored while a teenager twerking in underwear won't.
n was talking about how her cousin was shot and killed for knocking on her neighbor’s door to get her kid’s thing and she used “unalive” to describe it. It was very jarring to hear in such a somber context. It f
It's the same with most ways that we euphemise or censor words. It's so pathetically redundant because everyone knows what the word is supposed.to be. You may as well have said it.
Isn't that because of tiktok* and stuff. Like unalive?
That’s what I would think but how do you tiptoe in context of really intense issues like suicide, rape, abuse? If you reference it I feel like it would trigger any bad emotions just on the topic not the specific word
If tiktok has banned those words, then maybe tiktok is not the right forum for the topic?
I thought it was just about not triggering a word filter
I think that's what is happening. It's to prevent the algorithms from hiding away their post due to controversial topics.
There's no way any modern word filter doesn't have a common symbol substitution list
By tiptoe, they might mean tiktok?
Correct and I didn't even realize after reading their reply lol.
I'd rather see it because then folks can set up word filters to get rid of it. Adding random characters in the middle means it is harder to avoid seeing because it is so obvious what the word means.
Yea great point, people who don’t want to see it now have to because… bullshit?
People also self-censor when they speak in similar ways, like saying "what the F". I don't see why they wouldn't try to express similar notions in text
I agree, and you kind of made my point in your comment. What the F at least will censor for children or anyone who doesn’t know what that would be. Kids can decipher r*ape if they know what rape is. I just don’t see a point in text
Maybe the situation just doesn't call for use of a triggering word for the same reasons why swear words are less effective when used casually or arbitrarily in many situations. The meaning attached to the swear word is literally derived from the absence of its use in normal daily situations. In turn the use of the word alone is triggering for most that participate in this established convention - that's the intended design for their use of the word. There's plenty of forums where exclusively adults talk to eachother without swearing or where a blunt reference to SA would be weird.
When conversation about these topics is warranted, the person tabling it might feel compelled not to trigger other participants and self-censor as a measure towards that outcome. This might not actually prevent victims of SA from being inherently triggered by any discussion on the topic, but it at least signals to them that the organisers of the discussion have considered / are sympathetic to their position, which may encourage their participation in a way that enhances the discussion.
Personally I participate in communities where this topic comes up often and due to the established convention for the mode of discussion in that community, it sounds quite grating to me when someone uses the word rape, because I understand that convention and that it was established for the benefit of others (SA victims), not me.
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