New Settings & Flagging Tools

[theljstaff]

In an effort to ensure people under the age of 18 do not see inappropriate content, we added a new functionality to LiveJournal today. Ultimately, this functionality will affect a very small percentage of the millions of LJ users, but we want to be sure everyone has a clear understanding of how it works and why we've implemented this change

Comments

[atalantapendrag]

...wait, shouldn't this be in news?

[springheel_jack]

Things that might be controversial are not posted to News, because that causes controversy.

[atalantapendrag]

Silly me, thinking that something that effects everyone be posted to a more widely read community! *sigh*

[springheel_jack]

Hey, they added something in NEWS! It's small but it's there. Middle of the post. Don't blink or you'll miss it.

[anandrine]

I'm glad I kept this icon.

You now have the option to flag other people's content that you think is inappropriate for users under the age of 18.

Do not want!

[katu_kaocyan]

Your comment made me feel kind of... opressed XD. No idea why.

[mutantenemy]

I can see this becoming a popular weapon in the emo drama wars some folks have experienced on LJ. Don't want to waste your breath bad mouthing someone, spam flag their entries as being inappropriate!

Ugh. As someone else mentioned, a good idea in THEORY. Let us hope it does not get abused. Only time will tell.

[queenpeladon]

IAWTC.

[marta]

There are process in place to avoid malicious reporting. If a user is overreporting content or repeatedly reporting content which does not fit standards the "flags" from that user will not be seen by the Abuse Prevention Team, nor count towards the threshold to have it reviewed.

[branchandroot]

This is a useful point, and should be added to the main post ASAP, please.

I would like to add that I think the capability to flag whole journals is not a good idea. This mechanism is very subject to abuse, countermeasures aside, and making it easier for flagging to be used with a wide brush does not seem to me to be a wise idea. Flagging particular content at least requires a certain amount of specificity, and requires that the reporter have found and read all the content in question.

[lovedforaday]

You now have the option to flag other people's content that you think is inappropriate for users under the age of 18.

Not my job. I'm nobody's mama.

[katieupsidedown]

Agreed! There is a reason I don't have kids. Let the parents parent their children!

[alice_and_lain]

IAWTC.

[yenesi]

F'reals!

[alicemarkovski]

This seems like a pretty good compromise. How does this work? Does it use the age someone specifies in their journal profile, and what about profiles that have no age specified?

[marta]

Yes, it uses the age in the profile (even if the user chooses to hide the age registered). If a user hasn't specified a date of birth, they'll be prompted to enter one the first time they view content with an adult setting.

[alicemarkovski]

What about users lying about their age? Has LJ thought about an age verification thing similar to the one used when users under 13 sign up?

* I mean for all users that sign up, not just those under 13. It is pretty easy to fake an age on LiveJournal =/

[marta]

When someone attempts to register with an age 13 or under they'll always need to go through the age verification, but it won't be expanded to all users.

As far as faking ages, that's something we really can't control. We're providing tools for parents to use but it is ultimately up to parents to monitor their children's internet use.