Susie Bright's rant about the stupidity of "NSFW" and the ensuing discussion has me wondering about my own use of the tag. I use it here at Wired to indicate that a link leads to content that I, subjectively, think might get an R- or X-rating if it were a movie. I especially try to remember to use it when I link an innocuous word like "rant" (rather than something like "18-foot phallus").
I use it mainly to flag links because it's so easy to skim quickly and auto-click before you remember where you are, and the occasional bold acronym helps you pause. But I've never thought about it as censure of any kind. Or dumbing-down, either. It's simply a convenience for you, even though I trust that if you are reading a blog or column about sex-tech, you are as aware as I am that any link you follow might (if you're lucky!) have something racy at the other end. As far as I'm concerned it's a heads-up that whatever I'm linking to might be something you'd rather not have your kid or your boss walk in on. End of story.
So Susie's passionate objection to the NSFW flag and all it stands for has me thinking hard, because it's not something I'd given much thought to in the past. Have I been brainwashed? Has our editorial policy about such things fallen prey to hysteria and madness? Should we just assume that on the internet you can never be sure of what you're going to get until you get there (especially considering that content changes, and a charity I linked to six months ago could very well now be a porn site), and stop trying to label our links?
Her piece is great, and much of it familiar, too (like editors not getting your email because it has "sex" in the body). It's definitely got me looking at things in a new light.
And here, at the end, I find myself hesitating about publishing this post without flagging the links as NSFW, because when you follow the link and scroll down, you will see some lovely photographs that include bare breasts. And should I let you know that ahead of time in case Wired is ok wherever you are reading right now but breasts are not? I feel like I should. Which I guess makes me a prejudiced DIY prude with intent to censor and censure even as I link to content. And that makes me kind of sad.
What do you think? I'll have to follow Wired's policy on flagging regardless ... but if you had your way, would I drop the NSFW flags or keep 'em?
