Forums / Discussion / Serious Debate

Ok, so far these are the for and against arguments that are commonly used for tagging potentially unsettling/triggering content.

AGAINST

1. It is users' own responsibility to avoid content they are sensitive to.
2. It is impossible to account for every obscure trigger/phobia.
3. It becomes an excuse for people to harass each other over their own anger (ties into first point)
4. Most requested tags are stupid and too mild to warrant a warning.
5. It is a form of censorship, and asking people to tag certain things is therefore bullying.
6. Tagging quickly becomes a slippery slope, turning into having to tag the most minor things, (ties into second point)
7. Tagging everything as "tw:____" is disrespectful to people with PTSD by distorting the meaning of "trigger".

FOR

1. Extensions that block posts like Xkit and Tumblr Savior only work if content is properly tagged. Not tagging things means that anti-content measures don't work.
2. It keeps your blog organized/easier to search through for future reference. (Example: A simple #gif will suffice for a possible seizure warning, while doubling as a collection of all of your gifs)
3. Users with phobias/triggers/etc. can browse safely.
4. Users can avoid things such as politics or drama that tire/stress them out.
5. It allows users to follow blogs and simply filter out certain bits without having to unfollow. (Example: following a blog that sometimes posts NSFW things but is otherwise OK)

Any thoughts, memers? Only rules I have for this thread are 1. Keep name-calling at a minimum 2. Keep snarl words to a minimum.

Memers? Yes, I'm pulling a trigger as we speak.

For seriously disturbing shit, like graphic depictions of violence and rape, it actually makes sense in some cases, in particular when it's not clear that those things are going to be brought up in the article or whatever. You know, because PTSD is actually a real thing. Of course, a few years ago the whole thing was hijacked by the offended-by-everything-under-the-sun brigade, and now a post that suggests that "if you're over 350 pounds, you might want to get on a diet or risk dying young" has people screeching "TRIGGER WARNING!!! FAT SHAMING!!!" in the comments. I would say that that's bullshit, but really, do you need me to figure that out?

I generally only tag nsfw material and posts that can trigger an adverse reaction in epileptics. If it's something other than that, people are going to have to deal with it.

i really hate trigger warnings on tumblr and some other places on the internet, but despite that, im okay with movie and game ratings.

Are we talking about for KYM? Because I'm not sure how tagging for triggers is supposed to work.

I think they're talking exclusively about Tumblr.

More so Tumblr than anything else. It has a somewhat large group of people who believe anything with perceived objectionable content (read: everything) needs to be tagged so people aren't hurt by it. Most aren't that extreme, but there are a few outliers out there.

I don't believe tagging your materials should be required. If it's a food or general subject blog, then there's no point in tagging all of your stuff #food for the small number of people with eating disorders. No matter how "triggered" they might be.

Now if it's a, say military themed account, you might tag your posts containing darker themes for the target audience, as some of the interested parties may have legitimate issues. I'd recommend it, but still not a requirement. It really is up to the person/s running the account.

If you're prone to being "triggered" and are that emotionally vulnerable, you shouldn't have gone on a site where anyone can post anything.

Okay, so how does it work on Tumblr? Do they have a tag filtering system I'm unaware of?

Add-ons can be used to block specific tags; I don't think anything like it is integrated into the site itself, though.

I think content/NSFW warnings (gore, sex, etc) are good, especially when on a site (KYM, Reddit, Youtube, etc) which has a large variety of content and users, but the Tumblr "tw: fatphobic" crap is utterly ridiculous. If you're so incredibly fragile that viewing subjects which jam you jimmies causes distress, you need to get off the internet, stop social interaction, and become a hermit in the woods.

It's the classic Tumblr Boy Who Cried Wolf Syndrome. Take something (content warnings) which is pretty decent in limited context, then ramp it up to absurd levels so that it looks totally silly and loses any of its decency or meaning.

Hmm, you make me think of an IRL example. Years ago, I was working with a woman who had pretty severe arachnophobia. We'd gotten a new supervisor who was unaware of this, and she found a huge spider in one of our supply closets. She turned to the aforementioned woman and shoved the spider in her face, saying, "Wow! Check this guy out!" She nearly jumped out of her skin, and I, knowing how arachnophobic she was, busted out laughing.

She got angry at me for laughing, but really the reason I found it funny is that everybody has triggers, and you can't expect the world to just fold up and take your triggers away from you; the situation was absurd.

If looking at pictures of things will trigger some horrible emotional reaction in you, then it seems to me that Tumblr may not be the site for you. Am I being insensitive by saying this?

I figure a NSFW tag with reasons for the tag would suffice. There's PTSD and then there's hypersensitivity.

1. Tumblr doesn't have native comments. I think you mean reblogs ^ ^;

2. This is why people generally just tag things as #fat shaming instead of #tw: fat shaming because of "tw" being insensitive towards those with mental illness. Also, it's just faster to type.

Then again, a couple of days ago one of the blogs I follow was getting a storm of anon hate for tagging drinks. As in, #drinks. There's no way to tell if it's just an organizational tool or a warning, but either way the haters came.

I guess people these days have

hair trigger responses

Yeah. For example, many feminist blogs will put "this blog has a permanent trigger warning" on the header because they're constantly handling subjects like rape and domestic violence.

I tag my food, but it's mostly stuff like #desserts or #candy because I often use my blog as storage for art references. Candy is really hard to draw. That's the thing about tags, you can't tell if it's a warning tag or just for organizing.

"If you’re so incredibly fragile that viewing subjects which jam you jimmies causes distress…"

I have seen people request that social justice posts get tagged, because it can be tiring/depressing seeing tons and tons of examples of people being shit. After all, Tumblr is a free time/entertainment thing for most people. I don't watch TV to get upset, I watch it to unwind.

Warning: this thread may trigger negative memories of emotional debates about trigger warnings

Warning: this thread may trigger negative memories of emotional harassment by social justice warriors

Warning: this thread may trigger negative memories of being harassed for being a social justice warrior

Warning: this thread may trigger negative memories of having been a social justice warrior

Warning: keep your finger out of the trigger guard until you are ready to fire

Trigger warnings have devolved into a means of self-identification as part of a clique. Anyone could say there's nasty stuff up ahead, but calling it a Trigger Warning™ means you're part of the cool club that uses the trendy vocabulary. Or in the eyes of the backlash, it implies quite different qualities.

Politics aside, it's generally nice to give a warning ahead of content that a significant share of the viewers might rather not see.

The example….think about why that incident was funny. It wasn't just her finding a spider on the wall, it was someone actively triggering her for laughs.

You aren't being insensitive with the last bit, don't worry. Tumblr is actually a pretty good site for people with triggers because of Xkit/Tumblr Savior. Most other sites have no way to blacklist things, unless you count putting "-thing you're blocking" while doing searches on deviantArt.

"TW" is getting on my nerves. Why not just "W?" "Warning: talk of animal abuse, warning: sensitive content," it just rolls off the tongue better.

Most sj blogs that I've found just tag things as #rape or #abuse. One blog even said that the reason was "having to type the extra colon makes it slow and makes more typos". The weird thing about Tumblr tag is that you can't edit tags after you've hit enter.

i always assumed that hitting the nsfw button when uploading an image was enough, but i guess its possible to add a trigger button, i mean they managed to add a spoiler button so i don't see why not

I don't think it would be practical for KYM; I mean, how many triggers are there? How would we be expected to cover them all?

OH MAI GAWD. SRSLY? I may offend you so I need to restrict what I post? Just the word Trigger is so asinine I don't know where to begin. Let's just childproof the internet so no one gets "triggered". LoL wut? While we are at it let's just let the Murican Christian right regulate the internet so we can all be safe. Gawd forbid I "trigger" someone by saying your waifu is shit.

I love you, Vazquez.

good point

The short answer: No.

The long answer: It's not like we are uploading porn and gore on a everyday basis on KYM, and unless it's a 'trigger warning' for people whom might get offended, then they can go bugger off. . .like the disney site or nickelodeon. People can't be protected from life because they might be shocked, and adults shouldn't be punished because some children are offended.

Maybe when you mark an image NSFW, it asks you if it's the porn kind of NSFW or the gore/horror kind of NSFW. You check the correct box, and you're set. That would be practical, I guess.

If we're discussing tags, I think a tag could be used for this sort of thing (Although I've never heard anyone complain, people with accounts do use this site)

Something like this I guess (I know there's a typo, I just made this really quick as like a thing to see what it'd be like)

Caution: Explicity Nudity.

triggering does exist, i knew of a war vet.
who would jump to the ground everytime he heard a helicopter, or a loud bang was heard.