Help Why self censorship?

[MonkeyButter]

If this is supposed to be a safe place to discuss suicide openly then why so many acronyms and abbreviations? Why are we doing the TikTok "Unalive" bullpoop here? Is there a police force gonna arrest us? Serious question. I don't want to get into trouble with y'all or anyone else. So is it alright if I say what I mean without confusing word games?

 

[Carrot]

Here is a recent thread about it (nothing wrong with you posting this question, but you might find some answers/opinions there). I'm not in a mood to write much atm, but not a fan of the term either. Just wanted to share the link.

Using euphemisms like CTB

Why do people use euphemisms like CTB on here? Suicide is in the forum name, there's no one censoring discussion of suicide on here, that is the entire point. I'm growing uncomfortable talking about it in vague terms, because I can't take the action without facing what I'm doing. I am killing...

sanctioned-suicide.net

 

[dragonofenvy]

I've wondered the same thing. While I do use acronyms I'll still say suicide or kill myself. I think using acronyms/euphemisms makes it feel less severe to people. I don't see why you couldn't say whatever you want as long as you're not harassing anyone or telling someone to kill themselves.

Other acronyms are mainly for convenience. It's easier to say SN than sodium nitrite. In the thread @Carrot posted, some mentioned feeling a sense of community by having a "secret language."

Personally I rarely see many people use acronyms other than ctb, SN, KN, N, and the rest are common English abbreviations afaik. I guess a lot of people prefer being less blunt.

 

[Dawnfang]

The self-censorship that has become necessary on algorithmically driven social media apps like "unalive" has unfortunately broken containment and entered common parlance, especially among the younger generation. It has just become the way certain people speak. Yes, it's unnecessary here, but people are just used to it, I guess? Personally, I'll say ctb and such because it's so normalised on SaSu that everyone knows what I mean, and it's a hell of a lot shorter than typing "commit suicide" every time.

The reason slang becomes pervasive is that it reinforces the idea of an in-group. Sharing terms that are somewhat unique to the site creates a sense of community, so it sticks. Pretty much all slang, ever, exists for that same reason, whether consciously or not.

 

[roseblade]

People just do that. Communities come up with jargon and slang, little things that make it feel more like a community. It's not necessary, but that's just part of our natural social behavior I think.

Though, here, I think it also serves a purpose of keeping us out of search engine reaults. You jest by asking if police are going to come arrest us, but the threat of being involuntarily committed is real. Users have absolutely had the police called on them before. There's no rule against using words like suicide or death, but euphemisms can help attract less attention to the website. It also probably wouldn't be hard for an agency with real resources like the FBI or Interpol to get the website shut down if they cared enough, so best not to draw the eye of Sauron. Law enforcement is known to browse the site as it is.

Then there's the matter of actual secrets; mainly names of sources for materials like SN. We don't want to get them shut down by attracting too much attention. Just over the last week or so a source for SN got shut down because too many people gave too much information, and the flood of people trying to place orders turned some heads.

 

[N@te]

what roseblade said. It's common for online communities to form their own slang terms. Off the top of my head I can think of "Ack" (soyjak forums), "rope" (incel forums), and of course CTB (this forum), which all refer to suicide. Or, "Geg" "Kek" "Cage" and "Jfl", which are all alternatives for "Lol".
"CTB" and "Rope" aren't censors for suicide, just like how "Geg" and "Jfl" aren't censors. It's just slang. I'm quite fond of it actually, it makes the forum feel more like a community. I'd imagine most people feel the same way, otherwise these slang terms wouldn't be used.

 

[Luchs]

CTB is older than the recent wave of social media self-censorship, I wouldn't lump them into the same category at all.