May 30, 2006
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RATINGS CLARIFICATION
A number of our older users have rated their sites D – which is exactly
what we were hoping for! Ratings are a great way for older users
to blog about what’s on their mind, without having to worry about who
is viewing their site. But due to the way we designed the age
verification, I think we gave some people the impression that D-rated sites require
credit card verification.D-rated sites do NOT require credit card verification for viewing.
They never did; I’m sorry that we didn’t make that more clear! If you
are 18 or higher, you should be able to view D-rated sites without
having to input a credit card.
The only credit card verification will be for EX-rated content.
Only a tiny percentage of sites on Xanga would fall into this category,
so this shouldn’t affect the average user. That said, we’ve
gotten a fair number of comments from older users without a credit
card. So we’ll be adding an alternative to credit card
verification. More on that soon…Once again: D-rated sites do *not* require credit card
verification. Sorry about that confusion… let us know if you
have any more thoughts or questions below!
Comments (76)
Well that explains it all.
Can I get a P for ‘pretentious’?
Although how would you pay for that? Verify that you have read a bunch of John Irving and Kerouac?
Maybe M for ‘megalomaniac’…
Hm
5th
Do you have a timeline for when individual posts can be changed in rating?
I rated myself C for Confusicated.
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…………./¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯/………/`….(O).| ¯“”……………………..
…………`,………….,……./`….`~-,,,/,.(O)/…………………
…………..,…………/`…,-“…………..¯¯”|`……I WANT PR0N!
…………….`………./`….”””`~=’,’,’,’,’””`~-,……………………….
………………’|……’|…………………¯””~,…|………………….
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……….”–,,…………,/………¯””~-“””…………………………
……………¯””~`”””¯……………………………………………
Cheers!
hey john, is there a way we can belong to more blogrings?
jw
Kelly
But it’s not so much minors I would keep off my site, it’s those supposed adults who act like 3 year olds. Wonder what I’d have to rate mine for that to take place?
Ahhh
cool
Nice
Improve old features first, and then introduce new features. Listen to some of the complaints e-mailed /commented to you and give some sort of a response back. I know quite a few people who are upset and annoyed with Xanga.
Personally, I don’t like the rating system in general. *sighs*
looks like it’s gaining acceptance
wohoo top 20 comments
Why are there B and C ratings if you can’t filter them out?
HMSsqueakers: we will be experimenting with post-level ratings over the next few weeks. First we want to ease into Ratings in general, as we see how the concept works out in the real world.
HomerTheBrave: we may add a filter for B and C ratings over time. The thought for now is that we handle B and C like the equivalent MPAA ratings: movie theaters sell tickets to PG and PG-13 movies to anyone without checking their age. In a similar way, we’re not currently filtering content rated B or C (although we would add that option over time, if users asked for it).
o_0..Nice.
I have to admit that I had to practically sit on my hands to avoid leaving additional comments on your last post. I thought that you were VERY clear about how it worked, that you’re doing your best, that you will adjust as necessary, and that you post both to inform us of changes and to garner feedback about said changes.
Still, many users comment without bothering to fully read your post and, therefore, ask questions about items that you have already covered or, worse, complain about the same thing again, and again, and again … whether it is related to the topic at hand, or not. *ahem* (Try to overlook my own hypocrisy in the last statement.)
Furthermore, when will people realize that Xanga is a privately-owned and not public domain. You provide a service for us, but you are not here to serve us. If people dislike what’s going on, they can go elsewhere.
Then again, some people just like to complain.
Signed:
Your favorite, former naysayer.
Works for me
I went to a D rated site that I subscribe to and it would not allow me to view it. I am 27 and entered my information as such when I signed up for Xanga.
Hurrah for the new fascist ratings system of Xanga!
Things couldn’t be better on here!!!
ryc: Heh. It’s still me. I have just honed my anger into a finely-pointed dart and it is reserved for the most dire of circumstances.
Or, when I am angry.
Frejaluna – Wow, thanks for the kind words! But I can’t accept your absolution: a lot of the confusion was because we didn’t make the feature clear enough. Hopefully this post along with some of our changes helps address that shortcoming.
Lost_blogs – I commented on your site, but please let me know what D-rated account wasn’t letting you in. I’ll take a look.
Anatole69 – We’re working really hard to balance the needs of everyone involved. It is certainly not our desire to create a fascist ratings system. I am not sure what that is exactly, but it sounds like a bad thing.
great!
So when do we get cool little rating badges displayed on our sites?
Bigzee1. I should’ve flagged him, but I didn’t even think about it. Don’t think he knows about the ratings, but he got my site from yours. Flag flag flag, haha.
But most EX-rated sites aren’t usually people who would reveal that they’re EX-rated sites.
No compassion.
Oddly, all the people I know who are annoyed about this understand the policy perfectly well, including the five off my SIR list in the process of moving to livejournal. The problems appear to be:
– self-rating being compulsory
– cross rating existing at all
– credit card verification – I know you’re looking for alternatives, but in the meantime people are STILL being asked to provide cc details
– being told we’re only whining because we don’t understand properly when actually we do
Not one of us is a pornographer, and our content would be more or less C with the occasional D, as long as you go with the odd basic assumption that low-level sexual content is much worse than low level violent content. An awful lot of us are also parents, it’s not like we don’t understand child safety issues. It’s just we don’t think this WORKS.
There was one site I had to use my credit card as verification to get into when I tried to access it from my SIR list – I can’t remember which one but I don’t think it was one that was rated “EX”. I understand the policy well enough and I definitely understand the reasoning behind it but I think until you all get the CC-less age verification ironed out then perhaps the age verification should be for the moment disabled entirely.
So where are the anti-stalker features that we’ve needed here for years? Perhaps one that uses the IP address as the thing to be blocked rather than just the site name.
okay i found the link for ratings.
now i’ll wait for something other than c.c. info. for verification.
how about a dog?
would you like a bigblackdog as verification?
not sure what he can prove as far as my age goes but,
he’s older than i am. in dog years.
you see…it’s not that i look for x-rated blogs.
oh please. i’m so not that way.
but? if i happen to stumble across one i found offensive i’d just leave and let it be.
how are you guys protecting the credit card info?
so, i set mine to “D” to see what is said when someone went to it that had a filter set, and now i can not turn it off. so now all of my friends can not view my site anymore. i am under 18 and that might have something to do with it. what shall i do?
hey this isn’t on this particular topic, but could you help me with something?? i love the footprints thing it’s awesome, but i have somebody who comes to my site that is located in california like 2-3 or more times in a single day. there is nothing in the referrer column either so i have no idea where they are coming from. they aren’t seeing anything because of the xanga lock you guys have put out plus i’ve opted out of the RSS thing, so i’m not totally worried about it, but this person is becoming a nuscense (sp?) and isn’t showing up on my other tracker i have on my site. i know you don’t show the IP’s but is there anyway you can look at them to see perhaps exactly where this person is in california or even who this person is?? i “think” i know who this person is and have sent emails asking them to stop trying to get to my site, but they still haven’t stopped coming to my site. 2-3 or more times a day is abit too much if you ask me especially when you don’t get nothing but the page saying my site is locked etc…. could you help please??? thanks
I would hope that you don’t need my credit card for anything on this site, since you already take money out of my pay pal every month anyway.
I’ve rated my site D, because occassionally I post mature (not pornographic, just on touchy subjects with graphic detail, like sexual abuse and all that) content. Much of my readers are minors, and I was wondering if there was a way they could read my blog…
Or is there somehow a way that I can rate each entry instead? Or just give a rating to warn my readers that a certain entry may be offensive?
credit card verification is lame. you’re turning people off left and right…
wait… ok the rating system is good. but… lets not make it into a system in which a user cant enter just because his personal information says that he’s not old enough..
why?
because that take the fun out of everything. meeting people online should be easy and should not have any ristrictions of any kind simply because its.. “meeting people online”.
And to the xanga team (including john) i love the way you guys made it possible to just simply upload pictures instead of having us take the time to upload them somewhere else and then copy and posting the URL. thanx.
i have something that maybe you guys can do?
on the comment box i know you can edit your text with html (for those of us who know how) but i think it would be better to add buttons and stuff just like when your posting. maybe not as much but some fetures(sp) would make a comment let the the perosn know how he/she felt by expressing them self with colors and smilies.
if you can plz comment me back on my xanga. thanx.
It is no longer rated as D, she changed it to A when she realized people were having problems seeing her blog. I was not the only one.
propzzxD* waha,,
looking forward to trying this wooohoooooo` =)*
I’ve yet to find out how/where one goes to rate their site. Of course I have no idea what rating I’d use as there would be few little children finding my blog.
I dont like it one bit. As a parent, I feel if the kids parents are letting them online without supervision, too bad.
I would like to know how many children are paying for xangas services.
Hi, I am having a problem with my xanga. I have been updating it regularly, but it won’t update in the blogrings I am in. My last post was today but in the blogrings, it is showing my last post was on the 26th. What can I do to fix that?
Question. Is there a way to know what the ratings are when we go and visit a sight? Would a letter C or D show up in the corner? How do we know what we are getting into before we go there.
Christina
Thanks for the tidbit of info. I’m still indecisive about what I what my rating should be… no skills when it comes to multiple choice.
I agree with BeesKneesC. Also, I am far from being a parent myself, but if a parent is not supervising their child, xanga is definitely not the only place they could go to find “questionable” content. I think the idea of a system of ratings that lets people know what they can expect to find on the site is a good idea, but age verification is not.
hey john, my name is kimberly ann and i live in illinois usa.. i hope that we can be friends.. im a christain and love chruch and spending time with my friends and family too. my web page is kimmiekim_2005
I CAN’T RATE MY SITE…HOW DO I DO IT????????????
I didn’t know you can put ratings on your entries…
cool vist mine at xanga.com/movieking
I rated my site D on the first day, my daughter was asked to give credit card info, I was also asked for mine when I went to a D site, I changed my site to A and got comments from people that could not acess my site at all with D, they just could not get there. I am keeping mine A until all the kinks are worked out. Maybe the kinks are worked out, not sure, but I did not want to risk that again. I know for a fact there were problems viewing my site and others at first with the d rating, so let us know when the kinks have been worked out. In the mean time I will try to watch my p’s and q’s.
I think that (some) people are missing the fact that rating their own site doesn’t set what they can view. They must set the filter of what content they wish to view and put in their birthdate (on their profile).
There might have been a weird bug, because I could not view sites rated D over the weekend. It asked for verification for them. Now it seems the people who rated their sites D, and then ones who discovered they were rated a D even though they ddin’t rate thier own sites, have all gone to a C so I don’t know if I can view a D or not.
i’m just wondering if there is any chance you can make a way for us to make our sites protected or private at the click of a button without having to go back and edit each post.
i needed to do that with my other site but had to individually edit each post.
by the way…you guys are doin a great job. thanks.
Hey,
I’m cool with all of this. I just wanted to echo notforprophet’s concerns about footprints. I like the idea of having a block for those who wish to surf anonymously. Yet I don’t think this necessarily needs to be part of the “Xanga Lock” feature. I don’t really want Xanga Lock, yet I’d still like to be able to track all of my signed-in visitors. This will provide more options and help make other trackers obsolete. I love footprints, by the way.
Pete
so…… wow… you get a lot of comments
i finally found it and have changed my setting to D. i think it is a great idea and appreciate it! thanks!
Are you going to remove the ‘test’ credit card numbers? I used to go under proxy and order tons of crap using the ‘test’ credit card number 4111 1111 1111 1111. It’s fake, but it works as well as a few others. http://www.verisign.com/support/payflow/pro/pfptestprocess.html
I rated my site “this rating system is retarded”.
Most people, those who want people to see their site, are just going to rate their site an “A”, regardless of the content, so that they get hits and comments. I dont get the point of this system. If it is for people to keep others out of their site, then why dont you just expand on the xanga lock system?
Anyways, i’m just a guy with an opinion. Comment on my site, plz.
thx k bye.
mike
Is there any reason why you could not add excel or word files or any type of file to your server and put them online it would be one up on myspace or a storage area. I have so many files that people probably want to see. If you can store pictures you can store liturally anything else.
DOminic Shiells
I have a general question…is there a way to block acess to your xanga site to specific usernames?
like i said before, i support you 100%, but only so long as you require everyone that believes in god, is straight, or has a vagina rate their sites as such, and give themselves the proper “D” rating so i don’t accidentally stumble into them. thank you.
one of my friends sites got shut down by some one we dont know!!! i think if they arent our friends on the list] they cant sign in as us!! i have had to change 59 xangas cause one of my former friends got mad and shut it down!!! and i know what you r going to say “dont give them your password!!” and i didnt so ………………………………………..
If you’re against Censorship and hate Xanga’s new CreditCard Age Verification system then join us!
!BXU! -The blogring against censorship
This idea is sooooo COMMUNITY!!!
how do you know what a sites rating is?
ryc: Yeah, this seems to be more acceptable. It’s mostly the same, but mostly and surely would argue about apples and oranges, or flags and ratings.
This whole thing reminds me of the very vocal wacky Neighborhood Watch-type lady. The one that shows up at parents meetings at the PTA/PTL at school or at the Community Association or Church meeting and just won’t shut up. She sees child molesters, stalkers, and juvenile delinquents everywhere and constantly tries to spread her paranoia and sense of fear and mistrust throughout the rest of the community. She sees all the evil in the world and none of the good and wants liberties and rights curtailed under the guise of being more safe. (Yes I know Xanga is a private company, you don’t have to bring that up again.) Where once a peaceful neighborhood where friends and strangers coexisted with little problem, now a transformation begins where neighbor is taught to fear and mistrust the other and be on the lookout for deeds or thoughts that can be used against them.
There are people now on Xanga that are so paranoid that they become frightened simply because they don’t know the identity of someone that visits their site! Someone that paranoid should not even have a blog or website; they should simply write in a diary at home or send emails to their friends; and probably seek medical attention. Erecting global saftey protocols to safeguard the fragile delusionals from what they fear will only feed their paranoia and spread the mistrust…and also erode the sense of community that was your goal in the first place to create. I don’t feel that you’re making Xanga any more “safer”. You are however destroying whatever sense of “community” you had, unless of course your goal is to eventually rid the community of all but the ‘very vocal wacky Neighborhood Watch-types’ that I described earlier.
The ratings system is bad.
period.
I still don’t like you.
hi. This is off topic from this entry… but I’ve been having a lot of problems with xanga. Whenever I want to post a new weblog entry it doesn’t load all of the buttons and stuff. the page is like… all plain all it has is the text box and a bunch of words everywhere. It has a submit button and a cancel button but neither of them take me anywhere.
Is there any way you can help me with that? if so that’d be great.
thanks.
It’s weird… you can make an EX-rated site without credit-card verification. what happens when you aren’t logged in at all? can you still not see EX sites? I should probably just try…
I think the ratings are a good idea, but i think it should just be for informational perposes and not completely lock up the site.
i know someone who rated their site D. but ive seen it and there isnt nothing wrong with it or no adult material. taking advantage i dont know. people shold rate their site correctly. also some people should shut down sites when they make a new one. many of my friends have about 10 sites and make new ones every month but dont shut down their other site.
WELL LETS SAY I GET IT BUT I DONT MY BRAIN HURTS LOL
>>>> > > Take 3 minutes and try this…it will freak
>>>> > >
>>>> > > you out! The person who
>>>> > >
>>>> > > sent it to me said her wish came true
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 10 minutes after they read the mail.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > BUT NO CHEATING! This game has a freaky
>>>> > >
>>>> > > outcome.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > Don’t read ahead…just do it in order! It
>>>> > >
>>>> > > takes about three minutes…it’s worth a try
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > First..get a pen and paper. When you
>>>> > >
>>>> > > actually choose names, make sure it’s
>>>> > >
>>>> > > people you actually know and go with
>>>> > >
>>>> > > your first instinct.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > Scroll down one line at a time…and don’t
>>>> > >
>>>> > > read ahead or you’ll ruin
>>>> > >
>>>> > > it!
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 1. First, write the numbers 1 through 11 in
>>>> > >
>>>> > > a column.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 2. Then, beside numbers 1 and 2, write down
>>>> > >
>>>> > > any two numbers you
>>>> > >
>>>> > > want.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 3. Beside the 3 and 7, write down the names
>>>> > >
>>>> > > of members of the opposite sex.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > NO LOOKING AHEAD…OR IT WON”T TURN OUT RIGHT!
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 4. Write anyone’s name (like friends or
>>>> > >
>>>> > > family….) in the 4th, 5th,
>>>> > >
>>>> > > and 6th spots.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 5. Write down four song titles in 8,9, 10,
>>>> > >
>>>> > > and 11.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > GO WITH YOUR INSTINCT PEOPLE!!!!
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 6. Finally, make a wish.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > And now the key for the game…..
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 1. You must tell (the number in space 2)
>>>> > >
>>>> > > people about this game.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 2. The person in space 3 is the one that you
>>>> > >
>>>> > > love.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 3. The person in 7 is one you like but can’t
>>>> > >
>>>> > > work out.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 4. You care most about the person you put in
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 4.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 5. The person you name in number 5 is the
>>>> > >
>>>> > > one who knows you very
>>>> > >
>>>> > > well.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 6. The person you name in 6 is your lucky
>>>> > >
>>>> > > star.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 7. The song in 8 is the song that matches
>>>> > >
>>>> > > with the person in number 3.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 8. The title in 9 is the song for the person
>>>> > >
>>>> > > in 7.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 9. The tenth space is the song that tells
>>>> > >
>>>> > > you most about YOUR mind.
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > > 10. and 11 is the song telling you how you
>>>> > >
>>>> > > feel about life
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >
>>>> > >>>>> > > NOW…send this to 10 people within the hour
>>>> > >
>>>> > > you read this…IF you do..your wish will come
>>>> > >
>>>> > > true.
>>>> > >
>>>> > > If you don’t it will become the opposite