May 26, 2006

  • INTRODUCING XANGA RATINGS

    We came up with Xanga Ratings to help parents decide what content is appropriate for their
    children, and to allow older Xangans to write
    freely.  We hope this system is a good alternative to a model based on censorship!

    If you’re not sure which rating to choose, we’ve written them all up
    here    .   When rating your site, try to take into account your
    username, your default profile pic, and the rating of most of your
    posts.  If an occasional post goes beyond your site rating, that’s
    OK…  just use protected (and we’re coming out with post-level ratings soon).

    A number of people have expressed concern about ratings abuse.  If
    we allow anyone to cross-rate sites, some Xangans may drop EX-ratings
    on all their friends as a joke.  We’ve spent the last few months
    developing algorithms that can detect and ignore this kind of ratings
    fraud.  We’ll find out next week how well it works (when we enable
    cross-rating); in the meantime, we’re going to launch with just
    self-rating and tweak based on your collective feedback..

    In the meantime, we’ve created a Xanga SafeBrowse setting, which allows you to
    decide what level of content you’re comfortable viewing.  Access
    to D and EX rated posts will require some form of age-verification (and EX requires credit card).

    I’m going to put an A on my Site, because my site is so boring.  Patrick programmed Ratings, and is going for a C (he crazy).  Marc designed the logos, and I think he’ll be a B.  So, what do you think… and what Rating are you going to put on your site?

    EDIT: Based on your feedback, we
    will definitely come up with age verification that doesn’t involve
    credit cards!  Let us know if you have any ideas below… thanks!

Comments (131)

  • Cool

  • Sweet

  • Radness!

  • I don’t have a credit card, but I am over 18. Is there another way for verification?

  • Good DEAL!! But again, I think requiring a credit card will create problems.

  • I’d go somewhere between A and B, but I’ll just go with A.  Most of what I write is random babbling anyway.

  • X__X I’m almost quite annoyed with it, to be honest with you… I know it’s the best for all of us, but there’s something nagging at me at the back of my mind. :-/

  • ex

    stellar idea.

    stellar.

  • Awesome!

  • I think I’ll go with C… my posts are mostly innocuous, but I do use the occasional bit of foul language.

    So hey – your site is rated A, but what happens if I drop an F-bomb here in your comments?

  • SWEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

  • i filled out like a billion forms about getting my xanga back but i still hadnt had a response ot anythign at all

  • I wasn’t particularly delighted to have to use my credit card to view some sites I subscribe to which are now “D,” but I suppose it does deal with some of the issues. I feel very skeptical about cross-rating, so I will wait to see how that turns out.

    My site will be an A. It contains language that will bore the diapers off young children, but that’s their moms’ problem.

  • D rated sites will not require a credit card… I wrote up a bit more on that here:
    http://help.xanga.com/ageverification.htm

  • The age verification page does not display a secure lock for the transfer of information.  I am very uncomfortable about giving out my credit card information across a non-secure connection. 

  • Another question…is this rating for public posts or all posts. Like, what if someone is very mild on the public posts, but in Protected gets a bit risque? (That’d not be me, BTW.) I’m going to be a B, just in case someone might think I’ve under-rated myself.

  • Algorythms…  nice.

  • If your protected posts are rated above C, please make sure that your protected list doesn’t have any minors!

  • so what if we’re twenty, yet have no credit card? there’s got to be some other way…

  • Hrm, I think that I shall go with a B.  While my content is pretty tame, I do have my moments where I swear profusely and use Dog’s name in vain. 

  • seriously, i think all these amounts of precautions are absurd. even if i weren’t against censorship in general..cmon, this is xanga. no one cares.

  • So, if people post the X rated only in Protected, does that negate the need for proof of age? (Gotta ove inquiring minds!)

  • Will look into this. It’s good to give the self-rating option. Thanks.

  • GLITCH

    I just tried this and there’s a glitch:

    I rated my normal blog *ex* and then tried to visit it via my extra non-rated blog and while I was unable to read my rated blog from the main page, as long as I’m subbed to the blog, I can still read it via my subs page.

    Huge loophole.

  • I am 64 years of age, but my son took away my credit card. :(

  • So basically, if no one rates themselves then Xanga is off the hook legally. Well done.

  • Scuse me? If I rate Ex, my blog can’t be accessed by grown-ups with their shit together enough to not own credit cards, but it CAN by any kid who can get their parent’s card out of their wallet? That’s ridiculous. And as a grown-up who’s debt-free, I’m not responsible enough to view Ex-rated content? Amex must love you.

    btw, HOW am I supposed to make sure my protected list doesn’t have any minors?

  • Also: Why are there B and C settings if you can only filter out D and/or Ex?

  • heh. we’ll see how this works. hopefully most people are happy :)

  • Ok, so what do us bad creditors do? I’m not allowed a credit card, OR a debit card, and I have issues with allowing anyone elses credit details to be used on the internet, ESPECIALLY for age verification. Stealing a parents card ring any bells?

    A severely irritated 22 year old

  • I’m with Ana_Girl.

  • that’s a good idea.  8)

  • OK, so where do I go to verify my age?
    Dr. Carasco

  • we must mobilize our army for the oncoming  myspace war. I hope us xanga users don’t get drafted.

  • hey, what he said!

  • so those of us who dont have credit cards are screwed? seriously. i’m TWENTY. but i refuse to get a credit card, nor are my parents going to allow me to randomly give out their credit card. they dont even like me using xanga as it is, because they’re deathly afraid of internet stalkers.

  • I’m still opposed to the whole system, for reasons previously stated.  You’re not going to end predation.  It’ll just demand more ingenuity from the predators and the victims.   Yeah, yeah, wonderful, at least you’re making it more difficult.  You’re trying to be good citizens.

    You’re misguided.

    I’m still a fan of Xanga and its management, but you’re on the wrong track here.  Oh, by the way, I’m self-rating myself A, despite occasional blue language.  I do hope you won’t be sending police cars to my house to arrest me for that.  I strive not to encourage teens to visit my page, but an occasional mature post is not going to harm their delicate little eyes.  They see and hear far worse on the playgrounds they frequent than anything they’ll find on my page.  That’s my firm belief.

  • Hello. This is The_Jumbo_Shrimp.

    I think that ratings are a good idea I have a question, though. I used a single curse word in total out of all of my entries. Does this mean I still have to rate my site a B?
    P.S. I’m going to edit that entry, anyway. I’m just curious.

    Shrimpy

  • I find this rating system to be backward, misguided, and in the end pointless. I don’t have a credit card nor would I use one for age verification; in the end I find this along with the flagging to be truly misguided and will do nothing more than cause problems. I refuse to rate my journal, it is for personal reflection and if I have to rate or censor myself in something that is used as catharsis, because someone doesn’t approve of what might be there, that isn’t my problem.

  • cool beans. ok, I don’t know if anyone has asked this, but do you htink it would be going too far to add a feature that would allow you to flag blogrings?
    I’ve come across a few that are just horrible. it’s just a thought…
    Jo

  • why doesn’t ascii art show up right?

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    …………`,………….,……./`….`~-,,,/,.(O)/…………………
    …………..,…………/`…,-“…………..¯¯”|`……i want pr0n and i want it now!…….
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    ……………¯””~`”””¯……………………………………………

    Cheers!

  • http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

  • I don’t think it’s a good idea, but that’s just me…

  • great

  • First of all, I want to say, cause I’m someone who’s been very hard on you guys, it’s good to see you responding to the criticism.

    However. This is no way of verifying the age of an internet user. None at all. It can’t be done. Doesn’t the digital signature in and of itself cover your arses legally?

  • Oh, and I gotta say, I know it’s a big ask, but shouldn’t you really be employing someone who can spot these problems before you float them and piss off a large section of your paying customers?

  • I don’t have a credit card either…. maybe driver’s licences somehow?? I don’t know lol

    excellent work though!

  • you could do an intelligence test. you know, integrals of negative ln x to the three-fourth power, date when Apollo and Soyuz joined up in space, etc… if i thought about it, i know the answers.

    man i must be really bored to post on here.

  • but i take it back, then you would lose almost all of the american users – regardless of their age.

  • parents….????

  • I don’t think that the rating system is clear at all–the descriptions are very vague, and B and C seem almost exactly the same. You need to define this more clearly. Can’t we use the movie rating system? Everyone would know what “G” and “PG-13″ meant, but I suppose there might be copyright issues.

  • You suck.

  • John,

    please feel free to reply me.

    i’m wondering what can i do if someone register an account only for reading other xanga?(i made a script which non-xangans cannot enter my site)They never write anything in their xanga,but they keep on read my xanga.I did mail to xanga team,but no reply.Please help.Thanks!

  • HELP!

    I cant change my xanga safe browse settings… I went to http://www.xanga.com/private/editxangasafebrowse.aspx

    and it wont allow me to click on the other options. I’m way, way over 18.

    I’m using a mac and i tried using two browsers, Safari and Firefox.

    Thanks.

  • Well… the wonderful age verification system you’ve created doesn’t want to accept my Canadian MasterCard (keeps changing it’s mind as to what is wrong as well), so that means that even though I pay for premium I’m never going to be able to access Xanga’s that are EX rated.  What the fuck am I still using Xanga for then?

    This is bullshit.

  • And another thing, I have emailed several times about problems I am having with my subscriptions module.  I don’t even get a courtesy email letting me know you’ve gotten my email and will be responding in what – years? 

    So now we can rate our Xanga’s, not read anyone elses, and we get no support.

    Thanks so much!

  • Thank you, John, for what you’ve revised already… and I’m sure lots more thanks will be coming your way when/if you can figure a way around people having to provide credit card information for xanga’s verification process… I do understand how hard it must be for you (and your ever-growing team) to satisfy all the demands…

    and I am still very very grateful that you created this xanga-sphere (just for me… hah!).

  • You’re site is boring as hell.  But you get alot of eprops. 

  • I think you are a wonderful man John.  This idea will make parents happy around the world.  Thank you.

  • I think it is a great idea. Noone wants to see trash on here anyway. I am a Christian and I don’t wanna see people’s rude, obnoxious, trashy sites. So I say You go Xanga!!!!!!!

    Cristy

  • Im just wondering if we are already being charged for premium on xanga.. cant you make a “on file” option for the credit card info you need?

  • what happens if we ought to be x-rated but don’t bother?  if kids find me i just ignore them (or block them) till they go away.  is that sufficient?

  • People are still confused and getting mad.  Its simple to fix.  You need to put in a simple script for log-in.  When people first log in, if they have not yet changed their safe settings, send them to that part to edit first before they proceed.  Then people won’t go to a site and have a moment. 

  • Make it where more than 10 people can be on y protected list because I know more than that man that will want to read some of the stuff higher than my rating

  • I think all sites should default to a C rating until the author of the site changes it. That way we don’t have people’s sites rated as A because someone was too lazy to look into all the features the site has to offer and set their own site settings.

  • I gotta say, u got the coolest site name there is

  • oh, just scrap the whole thing.

    Cheers!

  • Really, I think the rating system was well intended, but isn’t going to work. Not only would I not give you my credit card number, (if I had one, which I don’t, and don’t ever intend to) I would not give you my social security number, my driver’s license number, or anything like that, especially when it’s not over a secure connection.

    Also, why is it that someone can rate their own site as EX without verification, but need verification to view other EX sites?

    I think the digital signature should be enough. You can’t protect everybody from doing stupid things if they really want to, and you can’t protect minors from viewing explicit material if they really want to. Parents need to take responsibility for what their kids do on the internet, not you.

  • There’s really nothing else you can do with EX.. if you simply ask for their age, people will lie. I think the credit card idea is the best way :/

  • Yeah.  I think that this is a very bad idea.  If the parents want to protect their children, then they should take an active interest in what their children read and put their own restrictions on what they cannot.  My posts would vary between the ratings and I would feel extremely uncomfortable having to rate my xanga.  I am 18 but I do not have a credit card and have no plans on getting one at any time in my life.

  • Does this mean you’re not going to post any more naked pictures? 

  • I don’t like the idea of having to use a credit card to verify my age.

  • Hi… I’m just wondering, how do you rate your posts?  I use zanga as a journal, so I write about everything.  I don’t want to stop that, but at the same time I don’t want to be a perv while I know there are younger veiwers.  I don’t want to make all my post private, because sometimes I ask questions, is that something I will have to do, or can this rating system help me?

  • This sucks. I’m not eighteen, but I can’t get to my friend’s site because she rated it too high (her site’s definitely not a D). My parents would verify my access to any site but I can’t figure out if there’s even a way to let them do that. Jeez. This rating stuff is really wrong.

  • I think this is going a little overboard.  I seriously doubt the majority of parents are watching what their children do on xanga all day.  The flagging is still a good idea as it brings attention to sites that entirely violate xanga rules but the ratings system is overly complex and fairly useless in my opinion.  I for one won’t be considering if everything I post fits into whatever I rate my site (a C most likely) because I think that just carries it to an extreme. 

  • My protected list is too small to include all trusted – and hand-picked – subscribers.  The idea of filtering out adult content from children is good and all as I said earlier, but I have to say I’m not too sure about it.

    My default profile pic would automatically land me on a very conservative C+ or D-, and I don’t want to put up a false reputation on that alone.  Worse yet, I have several friends who enjoy engaging in debate over contraversial topics in the oh so contemporary world.  I mentioned in my comment on your previous post that some of the content of such arguments could be classified as a C or higher, just to spare flames and people uncomforable with such topics.

  • I’m rating myself a “B”. I like the idea of a “ratings” feature, because it avoids the unnecessary dilemma posed by many blog services. That being the dilemma between posting strictly “family-friendly” content (and violating AUPs otherwise) or having to use whitelists — which doesn’t get done, in practice.

    I hope the ratings system is robust, because that will let people post for the appropriate audience without self-censoring or having someone else do it for them.

    Good job Xanga for respecting free speech and enabling it to thrive in your community.

  • ^^^^^Speakingof loop holes. 

    LOOP HOLE 1.
    people that choose not to participate in the footprints can be annonymous, but I dont want anonymous people on my site.  Is there anyway that we can have the option of allowing or not allowing those anonymous users who are logged in xanga users to view sites.

    LOOP HOLE 2.
    You can block people from leaving you a comment but you cant block them from VIEWING your site.  I know that you have protected posting but when you do that you cant get any new subscribers LOL

    LOOP HOLE 3.
    Stalkers have figured out a way to get around the whole “xanga lock” thing alot of the people that have been coming to my site anonymous and have met the infamous xanga block page have figured that they can create xanga sites that they leave blank to view my page!!!  LOL  I HATE that. 

    PLEASE FIX SOMETHING

  • No way will I submit my credit card info on Xanga

  • i’ll put a NOT_RATED on mine (as I post objectionable material that I WANT people to see)

  • For age verification, anyone over the age of 21 should purchase and mail you a beer.  That would prove they were of legal age as well as provide those in the Xanga office with a more than ample supply of what weekends were made for.   

  • I think you’re going a bit too far on the “oh but we don’t censor” thing. You’re a privately owned website. You do have the right to ban explicit content.

    In order to appease a few people who want to post X rated stuff, you are asking everyone else who posts/browses here to either accept you telling them what they can or cannot view, or else they have to give out personal information to you. Personally I’d much prefer knowing that I can’t post things that are beyond NC17 than forever be wondering what it is that you’ve decided I’m not allowed to see.

    Why not just draw the line, and say “This is the content we allow, if you go beyond it find another venue for it. Out of the content we allow, here are the types, and this is how you, the Xanga user, can filter it for yourself to the level you are happy with.”

    Then you could stop worrying that some 13 year old child’s parents will see their child viewing something they shouldn’t, and turn around and call the law on you. The rest of us could just accept that the conditions of using Xanga mean no porn, etc… and we could get on with our blogging, or if we really felt that it was vital to our artistic integrity to post images and stories about hardcore sex and violence, we could post it somewhere else.

    I’ve had my Xanga for a few years now, I would really hate to give it up and start again somewhere else. But I’m also really unhappy about the idea that you are bending over so far backwards to keep from tagging any individual’s content as offensive (and therefore unpermissable) that you’re ready to censor all of us.

  • ”

    ^^^^^Speakingof loop holes. 

    LOOP HOLE 1.
    people that choose not to participate in the footprints can be annonymous, but I dont want anonymous people on my site.  Is there anyway that we can have the option of allowing or not allowing those anonymous users who are logged in xanga users to view sites.

    LOOP HOLE 2.
    You can block people from leaving you a comment but you cant block them from VIEWING your site.  I know that you have protected posting but when you do that you cant get any new subscribers LOL

    LOOP HOLE 3.
    Stalkers have figured out a way to get around the whole “xanga lock” thing alot of the people that have been coming to my site anonymous and have met the infamous xanga block page have figured that they can create xanga sites that they leave blank to view my page!!!  LOL  I HATE that. 

    PLEASE FIX SOMETHING

    Posted 5/27/2006 at 8:14 PM by miss_slantybrowneyes”
     
    EXACTLY!
    What she said!!

  • your grade is an A because of your creativity in his blog..

  • this*

  • SO GOOD=]

  • If Xanga had started out with required self-ratings, with no opt-out of self-rating that didn’t incur a visitor dropoff, I’d have certainly just passed Xanga by.   I would have just felt too stifled just by having to “type” myself.

    I realize this is a “service” that you may feel you need to provide.  But I see it more as a way to cover Xanga’s legal liabilities (lawsuits from distraught parents) rather than provide any real protection.  I sympathize with your legal plights.  But ratings do nothing for me.

    And ‘EX’ requiring a credit card?  Total kiss of death.  Who the EX will want to provide credit information just to read a post?

    (okay, I just read your ‘EDIT’ and see that you’ve already abandoned the credit info thing.)

    Besides, I have written ‘EX’ posts from time to time as streams of consciousness, published them ‘in the moment, from the field’ in states of euphoria, and would have been incognizant or incapable of rating my site or the posts (that is, being rationally self-reflective) in any manner whatsoever in those moments.  So…if I don’t rate my site ‘EX’ at the outstart (kiss of death) but fail, due to a transformed non-rational state of consciousness, to rate something ‘EX’ that the coming subcultural of ‘Xanga censor/raters’ overwhelmingly will deem ‘EX’,  then I guess I’ll end up on your shit list. 

  • Hey John –

    Quick tangentially-Xanga-related question. Is CrimsonBlog coming back online? If not, if we have a bunch of stuff over there, would you provide it to us so we can replicate it in the Xanga environment?

    Thanks in advance.

  • is there a way to block rss feeds? xangalock doesn’t prevent people from using rss feeds. just wondering if there is a way?

  • disposable teens much?

  • college ids are one way you can check age. i know i wouldn’t want to give you my drivers lincense.

  • Again, if this is mandatory, if this is something all xanga bloggers must do, then I will leave Xanga due to this policy.

    I can only believe this is being instituted to protect yourselves from lawsuits due to corrupting minors, and this is more about the interests of those who run Xanga, than it is about the consumers i.e. the bloggers who actually pay for this site.

    A ratings system meant to protect children, can only come at the expense of the freedom of speech of the adults who use this site… and that is a crime in itself.

  • http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

    http://www.xanga.com/greendaylover2468?nextdate=4%2f10%2f2006+22%3a58%3a6.060&direction=n

  • Xanga rating idea is valid, pragmatic and safe-conscious. It caters to the volumes of safety and security Qs parents and concerned adults may have that focus on the mental, consequentially emotional and spiritual growth/development of young people. You can tell me I’m being nerdy or corny about this truth.

    While the idea of self-rating or just rating is great, the manner in which it is implemented may not cater to all the walks of life that have stepped into xanga blogging. Rating will not solve the problem that now exists maybe not only in xanga but other blogging coms as well, the problem of bloggers whose word mastery include curses, satanic expressions and other, at least to my humble opinion, are inappropriate for reading even by mature adults–that are already posted as blogs. These are open for all readers supervised or unsupervised.

    I am aware of this problem in my blogrings–not all members in the rings I’ve chosen practise appropriate language.

    Never mind the discussions on politics, issues about the environment, emotional problems, implied calls for help, even sex problems that are posted by some really serious bloggers who still have to fool around with their questions/discussions about these items. These in the rating categories would easily fall under C or D, I think.

    But so what after a rating has been posted. What’s the next step? Blocking? Will this not contradict other issues…?

    How about another approach–maybe a quesstionnaire that will qualify a potential blogger? This way, blogs are screened right from the very start or better still, before the onset of another inappropriate blog?

    AND how about having separate rings for certain blog issues?

    ALSO, how about giving the free classic for a number of days only and remove after experiration of the chance to go premium. This will clean up a lot, don’t you think Xanga?

    My thoughts.

  • I am so sorry that my husband’s blog was open when I posted this comment so that’s why you’re seeing triple. I tried to remove the first two inadvertent entries but could not and ended up with two entries using his blog name instead. Ooooops. The poor guys has been out to work since three hours ago. Don’t worry, I’ll explain to him later. Also, you will be glad to know that we will be sharing my blog space instead of getting two separate ones. So when we post comments, we will just sign our names separately as he might have his own comments too. Alice

  • A step in the right direction from the whole flag thing (thanks very much for that) but not quite perfect. Parents’ values vary, and also, as is apparent, not everyone over 18 has a credit card. (Yet another example of modern CreditCard-ism! :] Happens so much today.) But although it’s not as though I need or want to read the EX sites, it still seems a bit sad to me. The Internet was the one place that was free, and now even Xanga has turned to judging.

  • Okay, bringing parents into the picture will just KILL xanga. What is this, neopets?? That is so lame. Nobody who is a part of the real xanga community that exists on here who has been using xanga for years will go call their parents into the room so they can view a page that is the equivalent of pg-13. I’m 15 years old. Everybody on here needs to be at least 13 anyway. I mean does that mean that EVERY xanga user would eventually need to go through some time-consuming age verification process before being able to view a page? That’s ridiculous. Requiring us to enter credit cards and other documents just to use this blogging site is absurd. Xanga is becoming way too stiff.

  • layouts_______007

    will NOT stop jocking people’s layouts.

    She has jocked at least 5 people’s ENTIRE layout sites, including mine.

    She has been asked very kindly by a lot of people to please take off the jocked layouts, and she won’t.

    Is there any way that a xanga official could shut down her site?

    <3

  • It’s all the kids fault for showing half naked women.
    It’s not Xanga’s fault that we perverted kids on here.

    To the kids whom put all those X rated pictures on this site:
    Keep it on myspace.

  • Once again we’re being treated like children by the Xangods – and you wonder why people are leaving in droves. Please stop making this place like MySpace, one of them is bad enough.

  • I don’t understand why everything you do is directed solely at an American audience?  You have millions of bloggers not from the US.  In a lot of countries it isn’t at all easy to get a credit card, unlike the US.  In my little island its more or less impossible to get an unsecured one, and how many people have $3,000 to just plop down and forget about?

    I don’t like the ratings at all. I think they are a self-righteous, throw-away gesture to mealy-mouthed people who think porn is the worst, the very worst sin, and cursing bad words is next.  It is illegal to incite hatred and violence towards people or a group you consider to deserve it for whatever reason.  There are many racist sites on here – that Mexican immigrant thing really brought the cockroaches crawling out the woodwork – some of them are definitely illegal in most countries, but you do nothing about them. 

    What do you think will harm a child most?  Looking at some girlie showing off what nature gave her and writing some far-out fantasies or reading a full-of-hate site from one of these blogrings:

    <LI>
    Aryan Preservation
    A webring dedicated to our white brothers and sisters, as well as preservation of the aryan race! Nationalist, skins, and any aryan in general is welcome!

    <LI>started: 9/25/2005
    <LI class=members>total members: 6
    <LI>
    Aryan Nation
    An organization created to promote a universal Aryan race. We will remain for a Thousand Years. Unterseaboat. Kristallnacht. Heil Hitler!

    <LI>started: 6/20/2004
    <LI class=members>total members: 28
    <LI>
    aLL NiGgErS sTiNk
    niggers are dirty…and stinky….join this to start a coilition against all things nigger

    <LI>started: 7/31/2003
    <LI class=members>total members: 71
    <LI>
    Nazi’s Unite
    join if you hate jews or just like hitler. personally i think he was one of the baddiest motherfuckers to walk the earth. but thats where we all come together. join me and the nazi’s will rise.

    <LI>started: 7/24/2003
    <LI class=members>total members: 231
    <LI>
    KKK white is right
    i am the grand wizard of the xanga KKK. ed, singing_in_my_sleep, is the grand dragon. we try to improve this world that is being takin over by ignorant mokeys. being white is the best thing in the world. if i was any other color i’d have to hang myself. WHITE IS RIGHT…always. don’t be a stupid nigger lovin jew bastard join this blogring.

    <LI>started: 6/19/2003
    <LI class=members>total members: 176
    Why do you allow these HUGE blogrings to exist and say, oh dear unclothed lady, that is just terrible, we must find a way of stopping the kids seeing the unclothed ladies, but say that these rings of hatred are perfectly ok?
    I wrote a blog today and my main point on it was that when you have a kid you teach it to cross the road safely, and for many years, you either accompany that child, or make sure someone responsible does, each and every time it crosses a road. This can be for nine or ten years.  But when it comes to monitoring internet usage by a kid in your own home, like its too much effort.  You honestly think a rating system will do more than have the parent say, “you aren’t to look at xxxx’s site on Xanga’?  The parents who are monitoring their kids by, for example, having the computers next to each other, are already responsible, the others pay lip service to it,
    Some of those hate sites are illegal, you don’t need flags, you need to enforce the law.  Its a bit cynical to play to middle Amerika’s fear of porn and not do anything about the hate sites because the vast majority of your middle-aged (i.e. parents age) bloggers are middle class, white Christians and that’s what they care about. If you care about the kids and the future generation, then let’s have some action on hate sites.
    Otherwise I’m ok with everything today, its Monday, its got to get better

  • Gee sorry how the links came out, I just copied and pasted from your blogrings page.

  • This is bull!!!!

    I can’t read certain readers sites and I will not be giving my credit card number on-line (I paid for my own premium via money order)

    You said that you would find another way for age verification other then a credit card, and you have not!

  • uh…i got billed a buck for the age verification that required a credit card….wanna tell me whassup w/ that?

  • RYC: You better get on it TOUT DE SUITE! I’m telling my readers to copy my recipes while my Xanga is still up! You have got me RED HOT MAD!!!!

  • So I can only go to sites rated A for everyone? That would be silly. I’m 16, and I’ve no credit card. But I’ve been reading Stephen King since 5th grade. All my classes are honors and AP. I go to a public school! I’m exposed to the worst of it in real life, but now I have to be held back on the internet?

  • Um…I think I’d have to go with a D only to be on the safe side.  I don’t know that I’d really go into depth on certain subjects all that often, but I want the freedom to do so, if I need/want to.

    I’m not sure what to do about the credit card thing.  Of course, some people don’t have credit cards, but borrowing one isn’t all that hard, for some purposes, and many parents will co-sign for their kids to have one. 

    Don’t you have to be 18 to purchase car insurance? (Idea given to me by a 20yo…hehehe!)

    Good work, so far…GFW

  • My kid was reading the highlighted section of Tomsaaristo and said, “I’d just type in your credit card number, Mummy”.  Quite.  Lol!

  • I appreciate your comment on my site. However, I do have some friends who’s site I cannot go to without credit card verification, because I just tried. And they don’t put porn on their sites, and they don’t use any more 4 letter words than I do, which is normally none to a couple per update.

    You already have the flagging, but even that can be abused by some asshat who wants to make 20 xanga accounts and then rate someone’s site as bad. You people at Xanga made the rules. Did the rules disavow porn or not address it at all in regards to setting up a site? Maybe a clear set of rules needs to be written up and put on the front page, and then everyone needs to be told they have to follow them. Say, a rule like no porn posted, if you don’t want porn. Have the flagging thing, so if someone posts porn and someone wants to report them, they can. Chances are someone posting porn isn’t spewing their username in everyone’s comments so they could do it for quite a while, but if it’s against the rules you set, they’ll eventually get busted.

    If you look at the bulk of crap on MySpace you know Xanga isn’t nearly as bad off, or if it is, it’s not as easy to find the filth. And hey, I’m not completely against porn! But, I choose the time and place for look for it, I don’t like it finding me when I’m, say, at work clicking on a site. So maybe, if you decide to allow porn, make a rule sayign it’s got to be in a protected post.

    Have the new account process constantly show a user’s IP number and info at the top of the screen. That should scare away someone who wants to slap up child porn. It’s general news that you guys have that info anyway, but show it. Like the radar smpeed limit sign that shows the speed you are going to you are you pass by, people already knew they were speeding but seeing it right there on a radar assisted sign does make them slow down. Maybe it’ll make some of the creep move on to a new place that isn’t Xanga.

    And finally, let me say this: If Xanga sucked as much as even I have said after finding myself unable to view my friends sites this morning, none of us whiners would be whining. We’d be closing our accounts quietly and moving on. People whine when they were happy and now they aren’t anymore. So don’t be too upset, at least, don’t be as upset as I am right now. It’s a good sign when you do somethign people don’t like and they choose to bitch and threaten to leave, as opposed to just leaving.

    And also finally, I still wish I’d gotten the job with you guys. Oh well.

  • The radio buttons for “D” and “EX” don’t even work for me.  I’ve already encountered sites I can’t get into.  How am I supposed to tell Xanga I’m over 18 if it won’t even give me the option?

  • I’m really angry that I can’t change what I can view.  I feel like some computer god is monitering me and making sure I don’t stray from the path of righteousness.  It makes me want to scream and shout and bang my fists on the sky, then draw pictures of anatomically incorrect women and tape them to nursery doors.

  • John, thanks for your reply.  I think that finding a different means of verifying age is probably best if Xanga is going to insist on this new rating policy.  Granted, I’ve paid for Premium with my credit card, but like so many others the less I have to give that number out, the better.  I would say go on the honor system — let people give their birthdate as age verification.  Sure, some will lie, but then it becomes their responsibility if they see or read something that disturbs or offends them.  This is the policy on most web fora, bulletin boards, and the like; why is it not good enough for Xanga?

    However, I still do feel this rating policy is just unnecessary and downright insulting, not just to the adult bloggers here, but to parents as well.  Will the Xanga Team please reconsider it?

    Thanks again for replying to my comment.  I appreciate your time and work.

  • wow, who knew? john did.

    thank you kindly

  • Hey, sorry you’re probably the only one there and takign the brunt of this. What Nexxus23 says above is also my best answer at this moment. if people want to lie to read other people, it is not your job or responsibility anymore. The rating thing? Fine, let people rate their sites. That takes any responsibility off you guys. If there was any. Honestly, how an angry parent would even get ahold of you guys is beyond me, you’ve hidden that so deep in the Xanga code it’s not worth looking for.

  • John, thanks for your reply.  I think that finding a different means of verifying age is probably best if Xanga is going to insist on this new rating policy.  Granted, I’ve paid for Premium with my credit card, but like so many others the less I have to give that number out, the better.  I would say go on the honor system — let people give their birthdate as age verification.  Sure, some will lie, but then it becomes their responsibility if they see or read something that disturbs or offends them.  This is the policy on most web fora, bulletin boards, and the like; why is it not good enough for Xanga?

    However, I still do feel this rating policy is just unnecessary and downright insulting, not just to the adult bloggers here, but to parents as well.  Will the Xanga Team please reconsider it?

    Thanks again for replying to my comment.  I appreciate your time and work.

    Posted 5/29/2006 at 10:14 PM by Nexxus23
     
    ** i agree with this option.  WHO are YOU to tell me what I can and can not see?  There are alot of adults on this site, and most of them are not happy with your new age verifcation process with the need to use a cc.  I think you would find we would be more willing to tell the truth about our ages, than you want to believe. 
     
    GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR at Xanga. 

  • I’ve calmed down. Let me offer my apologies for my rant. I’m still not on board with all of these Big Brother changes, but I am still learning to think before I speak. Nothing against you personally, John.

  • hey,,my girlfriend forgot the password and tried to attempt typing in the password.She guessed wrongly for 5times,then her xanga have been frozen.But she has waited for a day,but still cannot sign in.what should she do?plz help..thanks=]

  • Honeypot
     
    I envision Xanga’s Rating System as actually assisting skillful child exploiters with winning the trust and confidence of certain gullible kids.
     
    How so?
     
    The child molester initially sets up a cute and fuzzy and good-feeling ‘A’-rated site.  This is the honeypot.   He then goes about seeking potential child victims and comments and subscribes to attractive children-targets.  These children-targets, in turn, visit the honeypot, like what they see and, in turn, subscribe. 
     
    Parents are aware that Xanga has this new rating system, but may nevertheless want initially to confirm that their young teenager’s subscription selection of an A-rated site is, indeed, A-Xanga compliant.   The honeypot, still in the child-gathering mode, of course, is.  So the parents approve of their child’s selection and rest more assured because the Xanga rating system appears to be functioning correctly as a content-filtering system.  The kids, believing that both their parents (initially) and Xanga (continually) is ‘looking out for them’ have more reason to trust the sites they have subscribed to than they would have if ratings didn’t exist.
     
    One day, the honeypot becomes ‘ripe’ for the child exploiter.  It’s time to shift from the fuzzy child-gathering mode where it remained A-compliant with the blessing of parents/Xanga to a delicate child-manipulative mode where non-A rated content starts to creep in.  Some children, knowing that Xanga is assisting their parents in protecting them, aren’t as wary as they might otherwise be.   So as A-content becomes C-content mutates into D-content and finally exposes as EX-content, the most gullible of kids, though they may be somewhat guilt-ridden in being led into a taboo, nevertheless rationalize it as “but Xanga is protecting me and my parents have approved of it.”
     
    Or course, other kids, more savvy, may start flagging and negatively cross-rating the tactics of the exploiter’s site gone into its manipulative mode.   The exploiter knows he has to act quickly: the site must go into an acquisition mode—harvesting the most gullible, acquiring private contact information, arranging for extended means of continuing contact—before Xanga reviews the inpouring flags and contra-A cross-ratings. 
     
    How long does the child abuser have?  Days?  Weeks of gullible trust before Xanga intervenes?  
     
    If the molester plays it right, he may even be able to complete his harvest (let’s say by arranging for a face-to-face meeting) before Xanga responds to the danger signs and convert his honeypot back to its original A-compliant mode.  Given that Xanga is going to have to deal with a huge volume of very bad ‘false positive’ cross-ratings and flags anyways, the molester may come in under the radar: out of sight, out of mind.
     
    In any case, the child exploiter feels a great sense of gratitude to the Xanga Team—realizing that the Ratings System hugely assisted him with winning the trust and confidence of his next delicious victim.

  • First of all, premium subscribers who pay with credit cards should already be age verified. Secondly, I strongly suggest fixing existing problems and bugs before rolling out new “features”. But then, you already know that.

  • I just went to look at the rating/safe-browsing thing. It said I had to set my birthdate in my profile. So I tried, but I can’t enter anything!

  • Everyone who has premium paid by a credit card is over 18.

    Why 18?  You can legally have sex at 16 everywhere in the US,and you can get married at 13 in New Hampshire, at 14 in 5 other states,and all of them allow marriage at 16.  On my own island you can get married at 16, but no-one does (they like to have the babies first).  So, in effect, you can legally do all the rudest, baddest, most porny things you can think of, but you can’t look at them on Xanga! Funny old world, isn’t it?

  • If you’re against Censorship and hate Xanga’s new CreditCard Age Verification system then join us!

    !BXU! -The blogring against censorship

  • Everyone age 18 or over should have either a driver’s license or a state ID card.  The issuing state and ID number should be the verification.  I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have any trouble accessing state records should you need to, since they’re public.

  • it won’t allow me to enter my info… it says it’s not valid.  I’ve tried 3 different cards now.  This is irritating.

  • Hey John, maybe you can enlighten me here. I’ve known kids who have gotten credit cards (not ATM) as long as they have their parent’s signatures on the account. These cards have the child’s name on the card. The card is flagged so when they go to use it the place of business needs to call for verification of the user.  I’m a little lost as to how a credit card will prove my age?  I know you’re working on alternate methods of proof and I’m glad as I really am not comfortable giving out my number for something such as this. Just a little bamboozled as to why this method?

    Thanks!  Hope you had a good Monday!

  • Hey, here’s a thought……..those that have premium have already paid and so should already have a card on file.  These people should be in a database that will pre-approve their rating without using a credit card as to get Premium, most of us have already proven we have a card. It’s a lot harder for a kid to get a check and forge the signature and so on. Why not put the rating system in as part of the “Premium Package” and give those of us who’ve paid a chance to rate our sites without whipping out the credit card again? Or, if that’s not to your liking, what about those of us who have a credit card on file and choose to renew our Premiums automatically?

    Just a thought………….

    and uh, you’re not the most popular of men these days according to the above comments. Here’s a Xanga hug!  ;)

  • good idea

  • i very much like this.

    i do see a little problem though, and forgive me if this was already addressed (i don’t want to read through 100 comments)…for someone whose site is rated ex and had a somewhat pornographic profile pic, would that pic show up with others’ in the comments area?

  • You should come up with a series of questions that would be unanswerable by minors. They should be specific to year of birth. >.< Kidding. How would you verify age without a credit card? Because I’m not comfortable sharing my card number (forget my CID) with anyone. Other then Disneys on-line store…and maybe TCM.

    Thanks!

    Chanda

  • If you’re under 18:

    Well, just go here:

    http://profile.xanga.com/edit/EditProfile.aspx?m=1

    Change your birthday

    http://www.xanga.com/private/editxangasafebrowse.aspx

    And then you can see a D rated site.

    Sloppy system

  • so what if you put a video on that was maybe an EX rating and since it changed your ENTIRE post to an EX rating….now you want it to go back to regular…is there anything you can do to change it ???

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