Use of Inappropriate Language on the ADAA Community Site

[ADAATeamLise]

We would like to remind all our users that we do not allow the use of bad language on the ADAA Community Site.

We recognize that people use various language to portray their emotions, however, our User T&CS's state that "contributions must not: contain any material that is obscene or offensive". There is a large number of users on this site, resulting in a large variety of different backgrounds, different levels of tolerance, and different perceptions of offensive language.

Communities need to remain safe spaces for the diverse membership while also balancing freedom of expression. For this reason, posts containing language that may be offensive to other users will have that language edited - either by removal or through blacking out with the use of asterisks. Our policy of editing this language strives to maintain the balance between permitting users to portray their emotions through their choice of wording while avoiding offense to others who are reading. A post will only be deleted in entirety if it contains offensive language or sentiment directed towards another person.

Thank you for your understanding.

The ADAA Community Administrative Team

[hypercat54]

Thank you for that. I am one who hates the swearing on here and it does put me off using the site. x

[old-soul]

I appriciate the the sensitivity expressed, and the approach being taken. I personally am not really offended by simple words. I can, however, be offended by how they are used.

My abuser is a narcissist. He's a skilled gaslighter. He can destroy a person and can ever get perfect strangers to join in with him in very hurtful and very personal attacks without any of it being detected, and never say a single, "naughty word."

This being so, perhaps one might understand why over-zealous "word-policing" sort of irritates me. Narcissistic personalities use this as one of their go-to tools to isolate their victims further, cripple their language, and push them to the brink of self-destruction.

On the other side of the coin, there are plenty of people that have experienced the use of these words from the people who have abused THEM, and here is the other side comprising the tiny eye of the needle those that serve our little community need to thread in order for everyone here to get what they need to feel safe and supported.

So, I just wanted to post for a few different reasons. A.) To share a little of my own experience and needs, B.) To express my own understanding of this delicate balance, and C.) To acknowledge just how difficult it can be to develop and apply solutions that are sensitive to everyone's needs.

I have been using computers and other I.T. for many decades, and in my experience it is very difficult to keep enough moderators and administrators to keep everything running smooth. Not everyone is cut out to do the tasks that need to be done, and often those that do these jobs do so on a volunteer basis.

I hope that by posting this, it helps others to understand that, where possible, if we are able to do a bit of self-editing, it takes a lot of the load off of these people.

There are ALWAYS going to be people that absolutely NEED to vent, especially those that have struggled long and hard for years and sometimes DECADES without the kind of support found here. I am grateful I found a soft place to land when I recently found all of you wonderful folks.

I want to help keep this place just as caring and compassionate as when I found it just a few days ago, and to that end wanted to express a hope that we can ALL do our very best to watch out for one another, and with any luck at all, make the jobs of those who do the work behind the scenes a bit easier.

Blessings and warm wishes to all in this new year, and for all of your years to come.