Boards›Player Behavior

The issue with "KYS" that nobody addresses

Mobcat·12/24/2017, 5:57:45 AM·7 votes·3,360 views

I cannot be the only internet user who has noticed an increase in its usage across the internet. From light-hearted memes to being used as an insult. Why do people treat this term as if a user is genuinely telling someone to commit suicide? In context and in internet culture its developed to be a replacement for something like "F*** YOU".

In general its use is as a normal insult. It's not a good thing to say. It isn't. But is it as bad as we treat it? I don't think it is. Giving specific instructions on how one should off themselves is by far much worse than using "KYS" in the context the internet grew to use it as a whole.

here is a google trends line graph for KYS. We clearly see a spike in its usage when it became an issue on league. It's also dying out. And its not because of punishment. Its similar to how "gay" was used a ton last decade and has grown to be more tasteless overtime. https://i.imgur.com/VLAz3pP.png

The issue of its use is fixing itself. Its not a death wish although there are contexts in which it can be. "Go do x and kys" would be an example of this.

I'm not claiming that KYS is an acceptable term.

What do you guys think? Can we stop pretending like people who use this are the most toxic players you've encountered and use our brains to realize the internet culture as a whole has an influence on how we speak to one another?

66 Comments

Chermorg12/24/2017, 6:02:02 AM17 votes

If there were a similar increase in use in the phrase "you need to commit suicide, you suck horribly" would you say that is also suddenly acceptable, and suddenly loses its meaning?

Being used frequently does not suddenly make something okay.

Plat HardstuckXD12/24/2017, 6:08:21 AM10 votes

Should be zero tolerance always. Telling someone to kill them self is horrific and has no place in society. Just because there’s a stupid meme culture around the word doesn’t mean any stranger is going to be okay with someone telling them to kill them self.

Jo0o12/24/2017, 9:13:03 AM7 votes

The community as a whole seems to be overwhelmingly in favor of treating "kys" seriously, as evidenced by threads such as this: https://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/player-behavior-moderation/UtUzffEv-riot-we-should-have-0-tolerance-against-players-encouring-others-to-commit-suicide

If you honestly think "kys" is interchangeable in tone with "fuck you", try replacing an everyday "fuck you" by telling somebody to kill themselves. Actually uttering those words in the real world sounds and feels incredibly wrong, at least to me. I don't accept that being online somehow absolves somebody of how those words are received.

Suicide has been a major problem in the area that I live in. I lost a childhood friend to it about five years back, the high school I graduated from made national news for having a massive spike in suicides, and multiple of my friends have made attempts or been put on watch for it over the past few years. Anybody who has contemplated suicide has reached a terrifyingly low point in their life where they can't see their life as holding value, and to joke about that with a stranger or treat it like a run-of-the-mill insult is fucking deranged. I have zero sympathy for people getting banned over it.

sarii fox12/24/2017, 6:11:20 AM7 votes

Interesting perspective on the topic, I can agree to an extent. It really is such a distasteful insult though and it's unfortunate that it's gotten to be so common. Those who use it are bland.

PaeanAsklepios12/24/2017, 10:27:09 AM5 votes

Being developed as an insult does not make it better. Telling someone to die by suicide in any form is entirely unacceptable. There's a zero tolerance policy for a reason: it's telling someone to end their life.

It doesn't matter if you're trying to be lighthearted. It doesn't matter if you're joking. It doesn't matter if you don't mean anything harmful by it. It is harmful. End of story.

Are you saying that we should go back to "gay" being a generic go-to for "stupid"? If not, then your example, like the rest of your logic, is horrible. If you are, then you're part of a larger problem that needs to be fixed.

Maybe instead of telling people to "use their brains" (seriously, what are you even trying to say in that last bit?), people should "use their brains" and not tell others to end their lives. If it's not acceptable to say, which you state, then where is this dissonance coming from?

SuicideAw12/24/2017, 8:49:37 AM3 votes

Riot is all bullshit.

MYM. Meet Your Maker. Literally means go die. Usually, by murder. Yet, Riot lets MYM be a LCS team name.

CS. Means creep score or farm. I can use it as "commit suicide" and Riot would never know. They would think I was being encouraging of farming lol.

AYS. Asphyxiate yourself. BYS. Behead yourself. CYS. Cut yourself. DYS. Destroy yourself. EYS. End yourself. FYS. Finish yourself. GYS. Gut yourself. HYS. Hang yourself.

You get the point I assume. Maybe Riot should just make "_YS" a zero tolerance phrase. That will probably stop people from being mean to each other. /s

You are on the wrong forums. This community LOVES vengeance.

Built to Tylt12/24/2017, 6:02:49 AM3 votes

I personally have never cared and am not weak enough to be affected by some child qqing in chat with this.

But people just want to get other people banned, so they make false claims (electronic rape, I guess, with the 'kys' thing) and look to get people that pissed them off punished.

Ninja Assassin12/24/2017, 8:14:16 AM1 votes

I've tried to make this point multiple times. Sadly, people on here refuse to accept other meaning for the phrase than to encourage suicide. No one seems to realize that this phrase has literally become a meme that streamers throw out on the daily. These players aren't telling other to end their lives, they are merely using the phrase kys as an expletive like: fuck!! or shit!! The real problem is that riot didn't warn its players about the transition to zero-tolerance for a phrase that was becoming so common. Players were not given a warning that the phrase was going to be treated differently than how they were using it and would result in automatic sanctions.