- Dec 8, 1999
- 7,624
- 31,060
This argument is pretty naive. First of all, we know that people are using it with intent to offend/annoy people in every other thread, which is trolling. Its "legitimate" use is, in that context, irrelevant because we're talking about an illegitimate use.
Second, saying, "if you act like this you're an animal and I don't care what race you are" is naive for the same reason saying "well, if you have long arms I'm gonna call you a monkey and I don't care what race you are." That's essentially demonstrating willful ignorance.
It's not unlike when Billy Packer called Allen Iverson a "tough monkey." Whatever your rationale may be, using the term in that manner is likely to cause offense and ignorance is no excuse.
No one's been banned for this yet. Now that I've made it clear that using "animals" as a troll response is unacceptable we'll be issuing warnings/suspensions moving forward.
If we were to do that, then why not let NikeTalk vote on whether or not it's acceptable to post anti-gay slurs and comments? How about posting porn and illegal content? Is it cool if we let a majority vote decide that, too? We're not trying to be all things to all people. We have a mission to live up to, and our goal is, redundantly, to provide a safe, friendly community environment. Allowing people to intentionally disrespect one another is contrary to that goal.
Honestly, at times like this I think perhaps we're too accommodating. In most other cases - including those in which you PAY money for a product or service - a policy change will be made as a one way notification and won't be open to discussion. You actually pay a subscription fee to play xbox online. Go to Microsoft's forums and "protest" your inability to draw crude penises on your team's flag in multiplayer games or use racial/heterosexist slurs while talking trash. Try explaining to them that "words are meaningless." See how far that gets you.
