InsaneJournal

Circle the one that doesn't belong: (Porn) (Hardcore) (Bondage) (Faeries)
Using the wayback machine, I was able to compare Livejournal popular interests from May, 2007, with those of today. In order of size, these are the interests SUP has disappeared from the daily popular interests report:

Sex, Boys, Guys, Girls, Fanfiction, Yaoi, Hardcore, Porn, Bondage, Faeries, Pain, Depression, and Bisexuality.

Thanks to silver_ariel at InsaneJournal, I've viewed the raw data, confirmed those interests were censored, and I have their real numbers.

I included many non-censored interests for the purpose of comparison.

Livejournal Most Popular Interests	May 14, 2007	March 15, 2008	Sekrit Number!
Movies	1,024,163	1,069,850
Writing	658,827	717,724
Sex	266,004	Censored	277,319
Harry Potter	245,587	268,051
Boys	244,643	Censored	250,292
Guys	161,476	Back as of 03/16/2008?	162,130
Girls	150,168	Censored	154,529
Women	135,036	137,038
Kissing	133,821	135,334
Lord of the Rings	132,207	134,674
Johnny Depp	115,662	118,393
Cuddling	98,840	101,045
Men	92,244	93,771
Icons	86,819	94,730
Fanfiction	85,886	Censored	96,200 Ha!
God	83,326	87,003
Beer	79,493	83,186
Alcohol	73,170	75,604
Death	64,870	66,295
Slash	63,481	68,795
Blood	62,242	63,699
Yaoi	54,973	Censored	61,674
Hardcore	51,134	Censored	52,870
Porn	49,806	Censored	50,997
Jesus	48,712	50,224
Bondage	47,438	Censored	48,895
Making Out	46,711	46,663
RPGs	45,534	47,259
Drugs	45,200	47,051
Smoking	39,615	41,408
Faeries	39,212	Censored	39,878
Pain	37,898	Censored	38,346
Europe	36,764	36,764
From this point on, the most recent numbers appear to be broken. The 56 interests following Europe have values unchanged from 2007. I include a few anyway, because two were censored.
Depression	31,092	Censored	31,092
The Matrix	16,658	16,658
Bisexuality	16,359	Censored	16,359

You may notice SUP neglected to censor a fanfiction-related interest. Please refrain from pointing it out in comments. No need to clue in the clueless. Kirk does love Spock, though. SUP also removed nine Russian interests. That may or may not be due to censorship; perhaps the Cyrillic was screwing up someone's Excel.

So...

What is up with the HOMOPHOBIA, SUP?

I confirmed the interest faeries leads to GLBT links, along with a sprinkling of Spenser study groups, pagans, and collectors of winged dolls. Since Wicca was not censored from the most popular interests, it's clear who SUP is going after. Plus they eliminated yaoi and bisexuality, so it's not as if this is an attack of paranoia brought on by my fourth cup of coffee. Sure, bisexuality was down there at the bottom, but, after censoring twenty-two interests above it, you know they had room. In fact...

Excuse me. I have to stop for a moment.

SUP DISCRIMINATES AGAINST HOMOSEXUALS.

That is all. No, wait, it isn't. Their offices are in San Francisco. Can anyone say PROTEST? I bet the extras turning out for the Harvey Milk biopic would be interested...

Moving on...

Can anyone explain to me why fanfiction has been censored?

I can understand (actually I can't) how a corporate idiot might consider teen girls liking teen boys something to prevent at all costs. And, sure, we don't want the little darlings getting into bondage without knowing what they are doing. And we definitely don't want them to get help for depression. That's what mommy and daddy are for, kids! For Jesus' sake, don't talk to outsiders about how ma and pa beat you and lock you in the basement. Keep your despair in the family, please. SUP denies your pain!

But FANFICTION? That is the evil bringing Western society to its knees?

I guess we should be flattered.

Seriously, demonizing fanfiction must stop. I have given up on LiveJournal as a home for fandom. But that doesn't mean fanfiction writers and readers still on LiveJournal should accept being classed, like hardcore porn, as "Bad for the children!"

Several years ago, a left-wing political group discovered it had been placed on the FBI's list of "terrorist" groups. To get the classification removed, they took the FBI to court (and won), because they knew the classification meant open season on them. It's the same here. If fandom accepts it is dirt to be swept under the rug, it had better invest in safety-orange hunting caps. We already experienced a Warriors for Innocence witch-hunt that basically destroyed a major fanfiction community.

I remember many fanfic writers saying the 2007 pedophile witch-hunt that began in May/June 2007 didn't have anything to do with them. Now they've been put on the hitlist.

SUP's censorship of popular interests proves they agree with WfI: queers and fanfiction are filth.

Metafandoming and linking to this is okay.

Edit: Some folks are unfamiliar with LiveJournal's Most Popular Interests page. Quick explanation:

Livejournal creates a daily report on the most popular interests. This public report is where the censorship I'm describing is taking place. At the moment, the interests I list above can still be added to our profiles, and we can search for them.

But the searches users initiate produce limited results. User searches are limited partly to prevent server overload. The only way to know the real number of people interested in cats or movies or Orlando Bloom is through the popular interests page—LJ can get accurate numbers from their database; we can't. For instance, a user search for Johnny Depp gives only 478 matches, but the true number, available on the popular interests page, is 118,393.

That's why censorship of the popular interests page is a big deal. It's the only data LiveJournal users have access to that accurately reflects the makeup of the online community. Whenever you search for an interest, look at the end of your results. You'll see a link embedded in the text: "More fun stuff can be found on the interests page." The interests page links to the popular interests page. Say that three times fast.

My gratitude to shaggirl at Livejournal for being the first to notice the censorship.

EDIT 03/16/2008: karma_apple finds evidence the interests were blocked after 02/28/2008. Yes, it's SUP's doing.

EDIT 03/17/2008: The filtered interests are back.