Techcrunch didn't include the comment on the story we sent them, but here it is:
Justin.tv uses a variety of common tools to effectively reduce the amount of inappropriate content on the site including: community-based reporting, community admins, chat moderation and redirecting sex-related search queries.
Lets be clear, this isn't the magical solution for monetizing Web 2.0, these tools exclusively help us to improve the community experience on the site.
The redirect he was suggesting wasn't to thwart 16-year-old boys from finding porn. It would be to make sure you don't accidentally stumble into something you don't want via a fat-fingered search query.
People who want porn get porn. People who want money (ie Justin.tv) get money.
Unfortunately, there are definitely issues.
Some 8-year-old kid is going to search for the awesome new channel about secant that everyone in 3rd grade is talking about. Since the c is next to the x, he's going to accidentally type "sex" instead of "sec". 5 seconds later, he says "mommy, what is that?", and 10 seconds later Justin.tv has a very, very angry parent on their hands.
Ok, maybe that's a little unrealistic. But people are going to complain about it.
You'd think they would, but we've been running this for a long time already and other than this silly kerfluffle, there haven't really been complaints. And believe me, our users love to complain (that's why we love our users!)
It's not up to Justin.tv to ask for an age: it's up to the site that actually displays said pornographic content. It's their business and their responsibility.
Btw, after trying out the redirect, there is in fact no "pornographic" material on the entry page.
EDIT: this comment was not meant to be a reply to your comment, jackowayed. (oops! sorry.)
And they could hit the t key a little too soon also and end up with a demo video on using a sextant. The educational possibilities of typos are endless! Although, I wouldn't be surprised if sextant demo videos get caught in some web filter.
From another post here, I am absolutely amazed that a search for xxx or sex on Google takes you to flash video based full length hardcore porn. I didn't realize it was that easy these days. What Justin.tv is doing is no different or worse than Google. I would expect Justin.tv is banned by every parental filter anyways.
It's a redirect. So as long as the actual porn site is blocked, Justin.tv doesn't need to be. Normal Justin.tv is fine, and if someone does get redirected to porn, the filter should grab it there when it tries to load hot-porn.com or whatever.
FYI - this isn't a method of monetization. This is a way of policing our community, by preventing people from searching for and finding porn on our site.
Secondly, actual users of our site have not complained, except for a few of our mods who say it makes it harder for them to find bad channels and flag them. So it's likely to last quite a while, since it's very successful in its goal.
There will probably be some complaints from parents or some being redirected to porn sites, but what do you expect? If parents are so offended they should talk to their child about searching for porn on the internet rather than complaining.
If some kid turns 'safe search' off in google and types in 'porn' - will the parents get mad at google?
I would barely call some TechCrunch comments "controversy". That site has some serious youtube-style lowest-denominator-of-society commenting going on. The troll to constructive comment ratio is like 9:1.
Does JTV really feel comfortable directing kids to porn? I am a fan of porn, but I'd feel uncomfortable having a hand in making porn so easily accessible to kids.
If someone is searching for porn or xxx or whatever is flagged, then they certainly can get it elsewhere on the internet. Justin.tv is not directing them to it, they would have already found out how to find it.
Seriously I read somewhere that someone complained about the word "Sexy" turning up a porn result.
Is that over the top? Maybe. But think about who looks up the word "Sexy" on a live video stream... I think they're on the right track in some way. Well, I don't necessarily think they're doing the right thing like this, but certainly if you have moral qualms with it, feel free to not use their service. I'm not sure this is a reason to stop using their service. Still, I think it might be better if maybe they had a button that said "Yes, redirect me" instead of only waiting five (only five?) seconds. Or, if Justin.tv is really using this to keep bad content off their site, why don't they block those terms completely? It's not like redirecting users to a porn site is the best alternative...not to mention all this bad press.
[+] [-] emmett|17 years ago|reply
Justin.tv uses a variety of common tools to effectively reduce the amount of inappropriate content on the site including: community-based reporting, community admins, chat moderation and redirecting sex-related search queries.
Lets be clear, this isn't the magical solution for monetizing Web 2.0, these tools exclusively help us to improve the community experience on the site.
[+] [-] mattmaroon|17 years ago|reply
Yes, because 16 year old boys who searched for porn are going to click no when asked if they're over 18.
[+] [-] nfg|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anuraggoel|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] allenbrunson|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jackowayed|17 years ago|reply
People who want porn get porn. People who want money (ie Justin.tv) get money.
Unfortunately, there are definitely issues.
Some 8-year-old kid is going to search for the awesome new channel about secant that everyone in 3rd grade is talking about. Since the c is next to the x, he's going to accidentally type "sex" instead of "sec". 5 seconds later, he says "mommy, what is that?", and 10 seconds later Justin.tv has a very, very angry parent on their hands.
Ok, maybe that's a little unrealistic. But people are going to complain about it.
[+] [-] emmett|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] evdawg|17 years ago|reply
Btw, after trying out the redirect, there is in fact no "pornographic" material on the entry page.
EDIT: this comment was not meant to be a reply to your comment, jackowayed. (oops! sorry.)
[+] [-] thwarted|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Frocer|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rms|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jackowayed|17 years ago|reply
It's a redirect. So as long as the actual porn site is blocked, Justin.tv doesn't need to be. Normal Justin.tv is fine, and if someone does get redirected to porn, the filter should grab it there when it tries to load hot-porn.com or whatever.
[+] [-] jonknee|17 years ago|reply
(I have no problem with it either, I just don't see a comparison to it with Google. Google doesn't ban porn, doesn't redirect, etc.)
[+] [-] fallentimes|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emmett|17 years ago|reply
Secondly, actual users of our site have not complained, except for a few of our mods who say it makes it harder for them to find bad channels and flag them. So it's likely to last quite a while, since it's very successful in its goal.
[+] [-] mikeyur|17 years ago|reply
If some kid turns 'safe search' off in google and types in 'porn' - will the parents get mad at google?
[+] [-] larryfreeman|17 years ago|reply
Interesting idea to give the adult searchers what they really want. The problem is that adult content is still too taboo for many folks.
[+] [-] evdawg|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] debt|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] likpok|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] holdenpage|17 years ago|reply
If a parent has an issue then either talk to your kid about NOT searching for porn or simply block the site.
[+] [-] kajecounterhack|17 years ago|reply
Is that over the top? Maybe. But think about who looks up the word "Sexy" on a live video stream... I think they're on the right track in some way. Well, I don't necessarily think they're doing the right thing like this, but certainly if you have moral qualms with it, feel free to not use their service. I'm not sure this is a reason to stop using their service. Still, I think it might be better if maybe they had a button that said "Yes, redirect me" instead of only waiting five (only five?) seconds. Or, if Justin.tv is really using this to keep bad content off their site, why don't they block those terms completely? It's not like redirecting users to a porn site is the best alternative...not to mention all this bad press.
[+] [-] Mystalic|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] justin|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] muon|17 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jrockway|17 years ago|reply
Oh yeah, sex is evil. I get it.