I'm curious about how people are using this feature.

Sometimes it's clear why a story accumulates Reports -- they are of the R- or X-rated variety, or they use an interpretation of the word that others are warning is misleading.

But other reports seem entirely mysterious. For example, I earned a Report for this story for Token: #Earn a bamboo token by adhering to a strict martial arts regimen like Bruce Lee.# Huh?

Have others been mystified when their stories get tagged with a Report?

yeah, I have a report on one of my stories that I CANNOT figure out for the life of me...

I have 122 reported stories. None of them are x-rated. About a third of them had mistakes and needed to be corrected. The others? Who knows. I knew 禾　as rice before starting RTK so it felt a little odd calling it wheat. Wheat also makes for boring stories. So instead I *dropped a tree* on people. Most of those were reported by someone who couldn't make the connection.

Hey! Can anyone beat 122? Maybe I have a record

It might be useful if people could make a comment when they decide to REPORT. That way if you are trying to point out a mistake (rather than reporting YOURSELF as a prude), it would be more informative. Comments could be shown with a mouseover but not otherwise displayed (otherwise they would get in the way of scanning through stories).

Alternatively, when you hit report, provide the option of sending the author of the story a message. Currently the only way to immediately convey comments about a problem is to put it in your OWN story -- which is in conflict with the uses of a story for your own review.

Not being a techie, I don't know whether either of these would be easy or difficult to implement.

If you click their profile name, it directs you to their profile and you can send them a message via email.

Thanks that's useful to know. I have yet to encounter a story that triggered the urge to Report, but if and when that happens I'll send them a message instead.

People report many of my Obama/person stories presumably because they don't like me criticizing Obama. I chose Obama as my "person" so it can't be because of that with Mr. T and all sorts of other guys being chosen.

Unfortunately, the majority of folks who put X-rated stuff would just respond, "stop being a puritan/if you don't like it don't be on the internets/blahblah" if you contacted them. Being mindful of others isn't all that common. Multiple threads regarding reports bear this out.

That's absurd. Self-censorship of stories is the opposite of "being mindful of others"; not only do you damage yourself (via self-censorship), but you damage others by permitting them to continue thinking that that act is one of mindfulness towards others.

~J

I don't think emailing someone over sexual content will accomplish much. The user probably already knows the story offends others. It is helpful to email someone if they make an honest mistake though. The wrong keyword, an omitted keyword, or if they check the share story box by accident and repeat another user's story. I have so many reported stories now that if someone finds a mistake that should be corrected, I will have no idea which kanji it is. They are listed in numerical order and not by most recent first. When I had less than 100 I would go through each to re-check but it is too much of a hassle now.

Once again, if a story has sexual or violent content in an indirect and clever way, share it. Otherwise, what is the point? Who can not create those stories on their own? It contributes nothing. The only difference between controversial comedians we all love and a sick creep is humor. If graphic language and directness are used, most will find you fall into the second category.

woodwojr Wrote:That's absurd. Self-censorship of stories is the opposite of "being mindful of others"; not only do you damage yourself (via self-censorship), but you damage others by permitting them to continue thinking that that act is one of mindfulness towards others. ~J

uh oh. I'm doubly damaged!

My condolences. Best wishes for your recovery.

~J

bodhisamaya Wrote:It is helpful to email someone if they make an honest mistake though. The wrong keyword, an omitted keyword, or if they check the share story box by accident and repeat another user's story.

Yes, this is what I have in mind. Reports that express a mismatch in taste (for sexual imagary, for example) are informative only about the "reporter" -- and we don't know who that is. But reports intended to indicate an error aren't effective unless you communicate what the error is.

woodwojr Wrote:That's absurd. Self-censorship of stories is the opposite of "being mindful of others"; not only do you damage yourself (via self-censorship), but you damage others by permitting them to continue thinking that that act is one of mindfulness towards others.

~J

I shall self-censor in my response for the good of this thread. I feel so damaged. Will I ever recover?

We all self-censor in everyday life to avoid the repercussions of such revelations so what we share over the internet should be no different just because there are no punishments.

I used to be fascinated by books that shared the near death experiences of people who were clinically dead and came back. Mostly because my grandmother had a NDE and no longer feared death as a result. Many describe that our thoughts can not be censored once we leave the body. They recounted of people they saw who felt they were guaranteed a place in heaven but did not go. Not because a judgmental God preventing them from going but because they were ashamed of their own thoughts in such a pure place and were more comfortable with those of similar mind streams. It makes me try to think in such a way as if others could hear my thoughts now.

bodhisamaya Wrote:We all self-censor in everyday life to avoid the repercussions of such revelations so what we share over the internet should be no different just because there are no punishments.

No punishment... who would punish you for your thoughts? Everyone has had a sick or twisted or violence thought in his life. People express these thoughts everyday. We all self-censor, but we also express ourselves (usually) through the appropriate mediums and acceptable places... the internet being on of them.

Some may think it's not "nice" to say "it's the internet get used to it" but that's the truth. This is the internet. The same way one person may find it rude to not censor oneself another may find it is just as rude to ask someone to censor his/herself. Try not to take these words at their extremes, though.

bodhisamaya Wrote:I used to be fascinated by books that shared the near death experiences of people who were clinically dead and came back. Mostly because my grandmother had a NDE and no longer feared death as a result. Many describe that our thoughts can not be censored once we leave the body. They recounted of people they saw who felt they were guaranteed a place in heaven but did not go. Not because a judgmental God preventing them from going but because they were ashamed of their own thoughts in such a pure place and were more comfortable with those of similar mind streams. It makes me try to think in such a way as if others could hear my thoughts now.

This is interesting. I think a good question would be... where did all this shame come from? I find it sad that shame is ingrained to the point where one feels it even in death...

kazelee Wrote:This is interesting. I think a good question would be... where did all this shame come from? I find it sad that shame is ingrained to the point where one feels it even in death...

If there is an internal, human, 'natural' moral sense (i.e., one that is special to humans as spiritual beings), that could be the source.

Many also reported a life review where they felt everything from the perspective of everyone they came into contact with and that were affected by our actions beyond our immediate circle. I image being able to feel the pain we caused others due to our self-centered nature and apathy towards the suffering of those we had the power to comfort would affect us in a very profound way. In this information age, one must try hard not to see the reality of the world we live in. For those of us who live in societies where excess is the norm while on the other side of the world beings suffer and die from lack, our regret from non-action must be enormous. One would get a true sense of what morality is above and beyond guidelines set by any religious source.