I know ET (edit) HAS provided a response to this, so I’ll try not to offer a definition of shock images, because to an extent it is subjective. After all, I recently tried to define “NSFW” based on a similar thread.

However, I will mention that, while Forumwarz certainly contains some material that can be construed as offensive (hence the initial disclaimer), most of that is strictly related to the text and subtext of the content. At no point in the Forumwarz storyline do you see any shock images. Pictures can generally create a much more visceral reaction in the viewer, and they’re far less work-safe.

I would say a “shock” image is anything that’s deliberately posted in order to provoke the user into reactions of stress, disgust, fear, anger or other involuntarily negative emotions. Of course, since a lot of people have already seen Goatse, you could argue that they’re no longer “shocked.” But it is reasonable to say that a Goatse noob (a very coveted demographic on the web!) could still be shocked by it.

I want to take an aside to address a different but related topic which we’ll probably need to banhammer out at our next meeting: The OP reported me for “trolling” in my Black History Month thread in Ayn Rands, and apparently people are complaining that by not banning me, we’re being lenient towards admins and therefore hypocritical.

All I can say is, first off, there must be some obvious differences between what me and other mods consider “trolling.” According to Wikipedia: a Troll is “a person who is deliberately inflammatory on the Internet in order to provoke a vehement response from other users.” I don’t believe I was trolling, or more accurately, role-playing as a Troll (since it’s a “non-RP forum,” that appears to be the issue). I was not role-playing by posting a dumb comment, or a funny video, or referring to a longstanding joke about my IRL friend and Forumwarz co-creator. I believe I was engaging in very typical behavior for my personality, much like other people would do in every other forum in the world. I was also not being crbum or mean to my fellow posters, and I think that’s a crucial point.

[I did, however, believe the picture of a hanging was crossing the line. That kind of thing was reprimanded, and I can see why. That, in my opinion, is deliberately offensive. However, I understand that there are gray areas, and you have to appreciate that as well. Also, mods are going to make calls that differ from others, which is unavoidable.]

You may have noticed that I’m not usually the one banning people. I’m not saying this because I’m “the nice guy,” like an easygoing uncle who lets you stay up late and drink Pepsi. I’m saying it because I want to be able to post typical, silly, Internet-normative bull**** without constantly worrying about being banned, and I want the same for you guys. I’m not saying the IRL forums should all degenerate into troll-fests. But the tattlers who report every single post that veers from the path of complete seriousness, in my opinion, are completely misguided. I can see no good reason for that kind of thing, other than for revenge, to point out apparent hypocrisy or more likely, to simply ruin other people’s fun. Just because you can report people, doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be offended by every single thing you read. As a mod, I can’t help but roll my eyes at 90 percent of reported posts, because they seem so innocuous.

What I’m getting at is, while we’re going to have to clear up some rules about the “in-betweener” forums (and other things that come up, as in the OP), let’s at least keep this in mind: Our community is not offended easily, but it can be offended. That means you should neither a) act as though you’re offended by things that don’t offend you nor b) go out of your way to test people’s limits of offense.

If we can do that, we’ll have a far fewer reports and far fewer bans. To me, that feels like a win-win situation.