Disemvoweling
Encyclopedia
Disemvoweling, disemvowelling (see doubled L), or disemvowelment of a piece of alphabet
ic text is rewriting it with all the vowel letters removed. This original sentence:
would, after being disemvowelled, look like this:
Disemvoweling is a common feature of SMS language
.
Because disemvoweling makes text legible only through significant cognitive effort
, it is used by moderators on internet forum
s, newsgroup
s and blog
s as a way to limit the effectiveness of unwanted postings or comments, such as internet trolling, rudeness or criticism. Disemvoweling maintains some transparency, both of the act and the underlying word, which would not be the case if the entire offending post is deleted. The word disemvoweling is a pun
on vowel and disembowel
.
moderators to prevent flamewars, by substituting a "splat" (i.e., asterisk
) for some letters, often the vowels, of highly-charged words in postings. Examples include Nazi
→N*z*, evolution→*v*l*t**n, gun control
→g*n c*ntr*l. "The purpose is not to make the word unrecognizable but to make it a mention rather than a use." The term "disemvoweling" —attested from 1990— was occasionally used for the splat-out of vowels.
Teresa Nielsen Hayden
used the vowel-deletion technique in 2002 for internet forum moderation on her blog Making Light. This was termed disemvoweling by Arthur D. Hlavaty later in the same thread.
Nielsen Hayden joined the group blog Boing Boing
as community manager in August 2007, when it re-enabled comments on its posts, and implemented disemvoweling. Gawker Media
sites adopted disemvoweling as a moderation tool in August 2008. On 30 October 2008, TIME
magazine listed disemvoweling as #42 of their "Top 50 Inventions of 2008".
, co-editor of Boing Boing
, said of the practice, "the dialogue stays, but the misanthrope looks ridiculous, and the emotional sting is neutralized." Also, Boing Boing producers claim that disemvoweling sends a clear message to internet forums as to types of behavior that are unacceptable.
In July 2008, New York Times reporter Noam Cohen criticized disemvoweling as a moderation tool, citing a June 2008 dispute about the deletion of all posts on Boing Boing that mentioned sex columnist Violet Blue
. In the Boing Boing comment threads resulting from this controversy, Nielsen Hayden used the disemvoweling technique. Cohen noted that disemvoweling was "Not quite censorship, but not quite unfettered commentary either." A subsequent unsigned case study on online crisis communication asserted that "removing the vowels from participants’ comments only increased the gulf between the editors and the community" during the controversy.
Matt Baumgartner, a blogger at the Albany Times Union, reported in August 2009 that the newspaper's lawyers had told him to stop disemvoweling comments.
. There are web pages for disemvoweling text, see Vowel Eliminator. Because the letter Y is sometimes a vowel and sometimes a consonant, there are a variety of ways to treat it. Nielsen Hayden's policy was never to remove Y, in order to maintain legibility.
The technique has been facilitated by plug-in filters
to automate the process. The first, for MovableType, was written in 2002; others are available for WordPress
and other content management systems.
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
ic text is rewriting it with all the vowel letters removed. This original sentence:
- The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
would, after being disemvowelled, look like this:
- Th qck brwn fx jmps vr th lzy dg
Disemvoweling is a common feature of SMS language
SMS language
SMS language or textese is a term for the abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone text messaging, in particular the widespread SMS SMS language or textese (also known as txt-speak, txtese, chatspeak, txt, txtspk, txtk, txto, texting language, txt...
.
Because disemvoweling makes text legible only through significant cognitive effort
Cognitive load
The term cognitive load is used in cognitive psychology to illustrate the load related to the executive control of working memory . Theories contend that during complex learning activities the amount of information and interactions that must be processed simultaneously can either under-load, or...
, it is used by moderators on internet forum
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
s, newsgroup
Newsgroup
A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on...
s and blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s as a way to limit the effectiveness of unwanted postings or comments, such as internet trolling, rudeness or criticism. Disemvoweling maintains some transparency, both of the act and the underlying word, which would not be the case if the entire offending post is deleted. The word disemvoweling is a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on vowel and disembowel
Disembowelment
Disembowelment is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract , usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident, but has also been used as a method of torture and execution...
.
History
A technique dubbed splat out was used by UsenetUsenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
moderators to prevent flamewars, by substituting a "splat" (i.e., asterisk
Asterisk
An asterisk is a typographical symbol or glyph. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often pronounce it as star...
) for some letters, often the vowels, of highly-charged words in postings. Examples include Nazi
Godwin's Law
Godwin's law is a humorous observation made by Mike Godwin in 1990 that has become an Internet adage...
→N*z*, evolution→*v*l*t**n, gun control
Gun control
Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...
→g*n c*ntr*l. "The purpose is not to make the word unrecognizable but to make it a mention rather than a use." The term "disemvoweling" —attested from 1990— was occasionally used for the splat-out of vowels.
Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Teresa Nielsen Hayden is an American science fiction editor, fanzine writer, essayist, and teacher. She is a consulting editor for Tor Books. She has also worked for Federated Media Publishing, where in 2007 she revived the comment section for the blog Boing Boing...
used the vowel-deletion technique in 2002 for internet forum moderation on her blog Making Light. This was termed disemvoweling by Arthur D. Hlavaty later in the same thread.
Nielsen Hayden joined the group blog Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
as community manager in August 2007, when it re-enabled comments on its posts, and implemented disemvoweling. Gawker Media
Gawker Media
Gawker Media is an American online media company and blog network, founded and owned by Nick Denton based in New York City. It is considered to be one of the most visible and successful blog-oriented media companies. , it is the parent company for 11 different weblogs: Gawker.com, Fleshbot,...
sites adopted disemvoweling as a moderation tool in August 2008. On 30 October 2008, TIME
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine listed disemvoweling as #42 of their "Top 50 Inventions of 2008".
Criticism
Xeni JardinXeni Jardin
Xeni Jardin is an American weblogger, digital media commentator, and tech culture journalist. She is known for her position as co-editor of the collaborative weblog Boing Boing, as a contributor to Wired magazine and Wired News, and as a correspondent for the National Public Radio show Day to Day...
, co-editor of Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
, said of the practice, "the dialogue stays, but the misanthrope looks ridiculous, and the emotional sting is neutralized." Also, Boing Boing producers claim that disemvoweling sends a clear message to internet forums as to types of behavior that are unacceptable.
In July 2008, New York Times reporter Noam Cohen criticized disemvoweling as a moderation tool, citing a June 2008 dispute about the deletion of all posts on Boing Boing that mentioned sex columnist Violet Blue
Violet Blue (author)
Violet Blue is an American writer and sex educator.Blue wrote a weekly sex column for the San Francisco Chronicle. In her podcast, Open Source Sex, she reads erotica and discusses topics such as fetishes and oral sex. She also has a video blog. Blue wrote a feature about porn for women which was...
. In the Boing Boing comment threads resulting from this controversy, Nielsen Hayden used the disemvoweling technique. Cohen noted that disemvoweling was "Not quite censorship, but not quite unfettered commentary either." A subsequent unsigned case study on online crisis communication asserted that "removing the vowels from participants’ comments only increased the gulf between the editors and the community" during the controversy.
Matt Baumgartner, a blogger at the Albany Times Union, reported in August 2009 that the newspaper's lawyers had told him to stop disemvoweling comments.
Implementation
Nielsen Hayden originally disemvoweled postings manually, using Microsoft WordMicrosoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
. There are web pages for disemvoweling text, see Vowel Eliminator. Because the letter Y is sometimes a vowel and sometimes a consonant, there are a variety of ways to treat it. Nielsen Hayden's policy was never to remove Y, in order to maintain legibility.
The technique has been facilitated by plug-in filters
Filter (software)
A filter is a computer program to process a data stream. Some operating systems such as Unix are rich with filter programs. Even Windows has some simple filters built into its command shell, most of which have significant enhancements relative to the similar filter commands that were available in...
to automate the process. The first, for MovableType, was written in 2002; others are available for WordPress
WordPress
WordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and publishing platform powered by PHP and MySQL. It is often customized into a content management system . It has many features including a plug-in architecture and a template system. WordPress is used by over 14.7% of Alexa Internet's "top 1...
and other content management systems.