Web Filter? Internet Filter? Content Filter? Filter here..filter there...filter everywhere!

In many places throughout the United States and the world, the web is filtered for bad stuff. People that provide this service are listed under WEB FILTER(Content-control software, also known as censorware or web filtering software,)! Holy Sunflower!!! Grandma's, children and citizens of China/middle eastern countries are protected from all those evil people that we hear about all the time. In many cases, information is so retricted that not only can those people not get information, they cannot sent information either. Trolls, icky websites and political/religious website are kept at bay. So how do they do that. Well, it seems there are people that censor web content for money. That is why, when you do a google search, you will find a list of items ranging from web filters to bypassing web filter...28,000,000+ items to be exact. Evidentally there is a lot of money to be made. Who knew!

When I wrote a post the other day, I really did not even think about a filter on the web. Those would have been the services that would have blocked my post because I mentioned the "f" word in my title. Conversely, people could have hidden their identity from me on my stats here on hubs by using a proxy that keeps their ip address hidden. Oh dear...I have enough to worry about and now this!

So, is all this important? Well here is the deal. People that make money online normally keep track of their traffic, where it comes from and even who has visited in some cases. It is important to find out if we are hitting the target. We become more effective bloggers when we check our statistics. Besides that, most of us are just plain curious and a little snoopy!

I suppose you all knew about this...so why didn't you tell me? You know, that my blog could be censored from view because a business was paid to keep bad stuff from the eyes of those people that MIGHT take an occasional peek outside the boundaries of what might be deemed work .

When I posted yesterday on Hubpages about the "f" word, do your suppose that people were denied the opportunity to read because the web filter on their network thought I was an evil, bad, swearing fool? Even teachers and business people could have read it with out being shocked. But maybe they were blocked. It could be true. I need to be more careful.

There are people that think censorware is a good thing. It appears that profanity in a title draws traffic. Humans old and young will flock to a derogatory/profane word. So a filter will save people from their baser instincts. For example, I was looking at proxy sites in the Google search this morning. You know which website caught my eye on the page and was the first site I visited? HideMyASS.com. I rest my case! I suppose there are people that think I need a filter or at least a proxy service to hide my presence!

The picture above is from a website that promises to keep profanity from your eyes and for only $9 dollars a month. You can bet that schools/businesses/churches are using this kind of filter. That is a good thing.

But for me, a web filter or a content filter does not work. What I fear I suppose is that people offended by certain things will win the right to censor me! I want to make my own decisions. Even though I don't allow dating services and porn to advertise on my website, I know that I am a grown up person and can make my own decisions about what I read! I am kinda sorry about the HideMyAss.com visit this morning. I need my conscience to step up and keep me in line!  Where is that thing when I need it?

But pay for a filter? I don't think so. This grandma says bring it on down. If you are funny or even informative I don't care if you use the "f" word! I will do what I do to a TV show I don't like if I don't want to read...turn you off! I don't want anyone telling me how to dress and I would never trust anyone to filter my web experience. No one gets to tell me what to do...not even my husband. Sorry dear!

One of my grandchildren wanted to find out about undressed women. His parents found "naked wemen" in the history. Thank heavens he is a bad speller. For those people that worry about web content or where their children will go on the web when they are not around, (and their children can spell) let me say again...28,000,000 people are waiting to keep to keep your children safe.

I might add that Google does a very good job of picking up what I want to see. They even know what I am thinking before I think it! That is plenty of filtering for me!

So how to you feel about "anonymous" comments...do the anonymous comments set you off even if they are good? Do you ban them on your blogspot account? I always wonder what I would be missing if I did that. My readers are people that do not blog...anonymous comments are a very good thing in my world. I don't mind if they post anonymously.

What I do not like is comments in a foreign language. If a spammer from Korea is posting heavens only knows what, I delete the comment immediately...I do not retaliate. I learned that "flamers" are like gang taggers...they want to be seen. In education we used to paint over graffiti on the buildings before the sun came up. No one ever saw what had been done. And no one ever mentioned it. That is the way I treat bad comments. A web proxy using person probably can hide where they are from but if they are nice, I am okay with their proxy choice.

So, how do you feel about all this? Are you comfortable with how the web is working? Do you understand a little more about web filters as a result of reading this? Were you confused by my line of though? Leave a comment and I will publish it (probably :).

Have a wonderful day.

b (sirrot)