Even on a new account with no friends or recently viewed items, the front page recommended algorithm for the Roblox Marketplace serves potentially suggestive or offensive content to you. Some examples of content that was exposed to my newly signed up account (on a vpn and separate browser).
Expected behavior
I expect new users to the Roblox platform to be provided a curated list of quality user generated content.
A private message is associated with this bug report
This reminds me of how social media functions, they just serve you the most vile slop imaginable in an attempt to get a reaction out of you
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Did you miss this part? You seem a little biased. It’s irrelevant if they have this in their personal algo given how reactive it is to a single click and they’re making this thread for a reason. This content does not belong on Roblox at all. It’s borderline against policy and certainly against the spirit of what the platform stands for WRT user safety.
That there’s no content ratings on avatars yet is shocking. People had been complaining about bloody avatars for years and policy about that changed only recently.
Nah I haven’t missed that, as i mentioned it automatically shows anything that is trendy or is popular at the time on a new account with nothing on it. that includes things that people may dislike
takes more than just clicking an item, that includes buying an item and wearing any related items too, so my point still stands
Sorry, but you’re wrong. It will change around the items you look at, almost immediately.
it doesn’t change for me immediately, there been times where i would buy something new and related items to that item would hardly show up if at all
You lack context, this is a bug report because there were other objectively inappropriate UGC creations which I did not link publicly. For the Roblox marketplace algorithm to be serving this content to first time signups is what I could consider an unintended outcome of the algorithm.
Don’t know which types of items were linked because you private linked so that could be really anything depending how trending it is. If its popular and gets clicks it’s going to show up on new accounts, assuming it’s something actually bad though couldn’t that just be reported normally by a DSA report?
Yes… But the purpose of this separate bug report is to draw attention to the fact that the algorithm is surfacing inappropriate content to new signups.
The front page of the marketplace should definitely be slightly curated for new users, what is globally most popular is not necessarily appropriate to show a user who has just discovered Roblox. What is globally most popular on Roblox is also often agreed upon as being disruptive or inappropriate, only surviving in a policy grey area.
Feels bad showing a coworker Roblox on their new account and the first thing they see in the marketplace is Minecraft sex mod, scantily clad ladies, and inappropriate facial expressions. (Hyperbole but all of these are in the catalog right now.)
Splicing this other post in here since it still stands on its own.
Almost any article of clothing can be worn in an appropriate way, but some have way more sexual connotations than others to the point where those connotations are the very first thing many people think of when they see them. I personally don’t think they belong here, but it is a grey area. I won’t argue this.
The algo shouldn’t be starting from a blank slate, it should be pre-seeded with some topics to help suppress controversial items like these for first-time users. Showing a brand new user bikini swimsuits and fishnet is a little off.
I haven’t viewed the catalog for months. I go there today and some of the first things I see are sexually or politically charged:
If I log into an old alt that I’ve never used the catalog on, there is a bikini right at the top.
I’m not going to make a new alt to check on the initial state of the algo just for this thread, but that these items are surfaced just by “relevancy” to my accounts that barely give the algo anything to work with, they are likely also surfaced to brand new users.
16 posts were split to a new topic: (CHAT) Roblox Marketplace Front Page is filled with Debauchery
I apologize for any drama that my post’s lack of context has created.
To clarify, the reason why this is a bug report and not a lounge topic is because I believe that the Algorithm is unintentionally pairing explicit / bad intent outfit combinations together as “trending” and serving that to first time users who don’t have any personalized recommendations.
The reason why Blizzei doesn’t see any of this bad stuff on their marketplace page is because they’re a UGC creator and they regularly interact with the marketplace, so the recommended algorithm caters to them.
The reason why I saw a bunch of bad stuff is because I almost never use the marketplace, and I reaffirmed this theory by testing on an alt with a vpn and different browser.
This is a bug report because, specifically for users with no recommended history, the default algorithm behavior is to serve “trending” outfit combinations, which frequently end up being offensive or inappropriate content. This is an oversight on Roblox’s part and closer to a bug than anything else in my opinion.
My issue isn’t with any one single item, it is with the algorithm’s tendency to pair bad items together and serve them to new users to the platform.
Thank you for the report. The items that you are referencing are currently allowed on the platform according to our community guidelines. Regardless, we acknowledge that not every item (or combination of items) may be appropriate for all users in all contexts. We are looking into this and will report back.
