40 Messages
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550 Points
List of inappropriate words/topics
I've noticed that if I review a film honestly, using every day words (not vulgarities), and, perhaps, sometimes using acronyms for phrases that I know IMDB will flag (but not putting the acronyms in caps), IMDB will decline the review.
It's really hard for me to understand why. I have seen so many reviews on IMDB where people are incapable of writing complete sentences, where typos are more the norm than correctly spelled words, and where people go off on hateful rants that have nothing to do with the actual film. Yet, somehow, those are accepted by IMDB.
Is there an official list of inappropriate words/topics that reviewers should be made aware of? Is every review read by a human being or are they just scanned by AI to seek out words or phrases that might be considered inappropriate?
I'm not here to gain fans or popularity or to do anything except to keep a record of the films I've seen and to make what I hope are honest observations about them. Many films, I feel, are poorly made and the stories are not strong. Many films, certainly before the "Me, Too" era, are extremely inappropriate to the modern eye, and I feel some things demand to be commented on.
But I also feel that IMDB has some sort of censorship board that must be answered to and that reviewers need to be made aware of.
Again, in all honesty, should reviewers stay away from certain words or topics? I'm not talking about your standard disclaimers to decline hate speech or vulgarities or any other thing that might be interpreted as being "incorrect." But if I write a strongly worded review (one in which body parts are mentioned, because they were most certainly mentioned, in even more graphic terms in the film itself), it seems I am flagged an declined.
It would be great to hear comments or feedback so I can better understand how IMDB makes its determination on what to allow through.
keyword_expert
2.7K Messages
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47K Points
2 years ago
I don't know that there is any such list.
Consider the possibility that you might be falsely assuming the reason why your reviews were rejected.
I have checked out your posted (accepted) reviews and they are very high quality, so I can't imagine why some of them have been rejected. Perhaps you are correct that the use of certain words will result in rejections of reviews. But if there is such a list, I am not aware of it.
My only other advice would be posting in this forum the contribution reference numbers for your rejected reviews, which would allow IMDb staff to investigate the reason(s) why your reviews were rejected.
And if you would like the community/contributors to offer any further advice, you could post the entire contents of any of your rejected reviews. But the IMDb staff would be the best source for help.
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Tatami53
40 Messages
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550 Points
2 years ago
Thank you. I really appreciate your post. I will think carefully about certain words in the future. It's really hard to know what word is acceptable. In my initial review I mentioned a part of the body, using the correct anatomical term, and the term that was used in the movie. It's not everyone's favorite body part to discuss, but it was a pointed reference in the movie and used in what I felt was a disturbing way. I used that word, plus others that possibly bothered people, I don't know.
Next time, I will take your advice and post the whole review. But in general, I find that instead of me going into great detail, it's best for me to post short, intelligent observations about a film and leave it at that. I have refrained from using really strong opinions because in the past I feel those posts have been flagged. I end up going through them and removing any word (and I never use vulgar ones in the review) that I think might have set someone/something off. I resubmit it, and it's accepted. So, obviously there IS a list of words or combination of words somewhere, because, although it may not seem so, someone is actually reading those reviews (but how some of them get approved is beyond my understanding).
Otherwise, thank you for your thoughtful note and your compliment. I appreciate it.
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