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I happened to find one user's profile and it has the following words:

You is a piece of crap... piece of shit... Go fuck.

I flagged a post by this OP on two different sites. One site accepted my flag as being helpful and the other declined my flag saying

Offensive language is allowed in profiles, cf. Why is the f word still allowed in profiles?

I don't mean the f-word used to emphasize another word or your point as an intensifier. I mean those offensive and rude languages directed at you when you read it.

If you read Does the Be Nice policy require SE users to "be nice" to people who are not SE users (e.g. public figures)?, users are discussing be nice policy towards non-users of Stack Exchange. When those languages are directed at users of Stack Exchange who happen to read their profile, don't you think they should not be allowed?

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  • The mere use of the F-word does not imply language that needs to be acted upon. I think it's shaky whether user profiles are something that should be moderated. I mean, as Jeff points out in the linked question, if we don't disallow excessive self-promotion, why should we disallow offensive language? Though I don't buy arguments like 'It's his profile. Don't visit it if you don't want'. I'm on the fence about this.
    – M.A.R.
    Oct 22, 2016 at 19:42
  • Jay gave a really good synopsis of this issue in Is it acceptable to insult god in a user profile?
    – hichris123
    Oct 22, 2016 at 19:42

1 Answer 1

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We do not have a blanket "you can use whatever language you want in your profile" policy. While there's not an inherent problem with using a word in your about me through natural speech, when you are directing offensive language at a specific person or otherwise, then it is inappropriate and should be removed immediately. That specific profile text is blatantly offensive and should be removed, as it is directed at "you" the reader of the profile (or possibly someone else, but it would normally be interpreted as the person reading). There is no protection for that.

Here is a better and more up-to-date resource for what is allowed in profiles: Is it acceptable to insult god in a user profile?

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  • So maybe post an updated answer in that older discussion, even delete Jeff's misleading answer? Looks like it confuse even moderators.
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Oct 23, 2016 at 6:10
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    @ShadowWizard Misleading in what sense? The "f-word" itself isn't banned in profiles. There's nothing about Jeff's answer there that warrants deletion, IMO. If anything, the "(Within reason, of course.)" part covers exactly this case where it's not acceptable and can be dealt with as needed.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Oct 23, 2016 at 6:46
  • @Adam "and it is their page to do with what they will" - Jeff didn't mention anything like "when you are directing offensive language at a specific person or otherwise, then it is inappropriate", hence from plain reading one thinks those are allowed. "Within reason" is way too broad. What reason? Who decides?
    – Shadow The Spring Wizard
    Oct 23, 2016 at 7:50

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