Discussion How Do You Generally Feel about Trigger Warnings?

[Celerity]

I personally find trigger warnings silly in most contexts that I see them, and I feel that their proliferation infantilizes people, but they have their uses. For example, disturbing content warnings, especially in spaces with traumatized people (e.g. rape victims, suicide survivors, etc.), are almost obligatory.

Also, regardless of my own feelings on the matter, I will comply if someone actively requests them. That's only polite.

 

[loopdaloop]

The warnings usually appear briefly for 2 seconds or are written on a single page so I never give it too much thought. They don't bother or provide any use to me.

 

[ForeverBroken]

I find them helpful depending on the context of the information.

 

[achb]

I think they're kinda silly but they're not hurting anyone so eh whatever. Ppl who get unreasonably angry that others want a trigger warning and people who demand a trigger warning as if they're entitled to it both need mental help. Not a situation that warrents either reaction.

Content Warnings for medical things like epilepsy tho I think are very reasonable. And trigger warnings for war, bombs, self harm and such. But like come on. No one is going to tw their healed sh scars grow up

 

[Forever Sleep]

They don't bother me at all. They likely won't put me off watching or reading something but I can understand that certain things could be very upsetting for some people. What I find more sort of ridiculous is the helplines you get plastered up after such programmes. Not that people shouldn't be offered support of course. It's the actual helplines themselves though- I doubt they're very good.

 

[noSuffering]

What is a trigger warning? I don't know. Would you at least write what it is in the post?

 

[Tesha]

I recall reading a research paper that basically said they could cause some people to have anticipatory anxiety and didn't reduce harm if someone continued past the trigger warning. So, pretty ineffective either way.

 

[Seered Doom]

If it's most anywhere else, fine, whatever. On here specifically though? I find it pointless because it's like priming a censorship of certain topics and that's what I specifically came here to avoid when I vent here

 

[beelzebul]

"trigger warning" has lost its meaning over time. it used to be for triggering material like rape, sexual assault, abuse, etc. i see people using it now for certain words, pronouns, genders, mean words, swear words, certain diseases, etc? it's insulting. it pisses me off. they have completely destroyed something that used to be very helpful for people with real trauma, like myself.

I recall reading a research paper that basically said they could cause some people to have anticipatory anxiety and didn't reduce harm if someone continued past the trigger warning. So, pretty ineffective either way.

for me, if someone puts a warning before a story about rape, i can make the choice to continue reading or not. maybe it still causes anticipatory anxiety, but reading a story about rape without realizing what it is about beforehand could trigger an even worse response in me (and others). i don't think they're ineffective at all.

 

[leloyon]

They don't really make any difference to whether or not I will view something, even if it is something that may fuck with me, I'm pretty desensitised.
That being said, I do see their value and support people including them, just that they don't make any difference to me personally. It depends on the context. What is it warning us of that it considers triggering? Where is this being posted? My views are mostly described in the OP.

 

[psp3000]

I find them helpful

(and I think many forms of disturbing and explicit content can be very educational and informative and can help people challenge their opinions and biases and views of the world) (blah blah stuff about censorship over the years blah blah)

but also useless because people will still try to blame pieces of various media and entertainment for various acts

"Think about the children !"

I think people should just maybe be aware of what their children are doing or watching on television and the internet and actually converse with their children rather than blaming a piece of media

I could talk for ages about this because I really love to topic of censorship but I will just leave it at that

this is a good question but I found it to be a bit vague so hopefully I answered/responded in the correct context/ I hope this answers/gives you an opinion on your question

 

[Seered Doom]

I honestly agree with Beel since I too have trauma and the things people TW now a days is so dumb

 

[Rapière]

Small anecdote: I remember once stumbling across an amazon review for an extreme-horror book akin to The 120 days of Sodom where a costumer, who gave 1 star, unironically complained that there wasn't a trigger warning for rape, torture, murder, etc. at the beginning, which I thought was pretty hilaruous.

 

[Celerity]

What is a trigger warning? I don't know. Would you at least write what it is in the post?

Trigger warnings typically accompany a piece of writing or other media with upsetting content. For example, "tw: sexual assault" could be posted before a story that contains a rape scene. Other, arguably less useful trigger warnings may be posted for troubling themes, such as racism or religious persecution. The more abstract the thing being warned about is, the less useful the trigger warning, in my view. This has become a problem in college classrooms when students refuse to engage with challenging and upsetting material. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/05/trigger-warnings-can-be-counterproductive

 

[noSuffering]

Trigger warnings typically accompany a piece of writing or other media with upsetting content. For example, "tw: sexual assault" could be posted before a story that contains a rape scene. Other, arguably less useful trigger warnings may be posted for troubling themes, such as racism or religious persecution. The more abstract the thing being warned about is, the less useful the trigger warning, in my view. This has become a problem in college classrooms when students refuse to engage with challenging and upsetting material. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/05/trigger-warnings-can-be-counterproductive

Wow! Thank you for the article! I've never heard of this crap, the level of degradation of snowflakes is simply amazing. I'm sure these degenerates, lovers of censorship, will soon demand that they not be shown how the meat for their hamburgers is made. I hate people.

 

[Celerity]

Wow! Thank you for the article! I've never heard of this crap, the level of degradation of snowflakes is simply amazing. I'm sure these degenerates, lovers of censorship, will soon demand that they not be shown how the meat for their hamburgers is made. I hate people.

You kid, but there is a cooking thread where OP instructed people to sensor the photos of their meals lest they be triggering to vegetarians or people with eating disorders.

 

[noSuffering]

You kid, but there is a cooking thread where OP instructed people to sensor the photos of their meals lest they be triggering to vegetarians or people with eating disorders.

If we look more abstractly, not only trigger warnings, then this is a general tendency to delete any unpleasant information. Pessimists have no place in this world. Life is beautiful, anyone who disagrees with this and talks about unpleasant things will be condemned and banned.


And if you look at it from an even higher level of abstraction, from the point of view of cybernetics. Then the control system has positive and negative feedback at the input. Positive ones are amplified, negative ones are extinguished. Excluding information for negative feedback from the information system will lead to an inevitable increase in negative effects, because in the absence of information about negative effects they are not extinguished. Its hidden negative effects will increase until the system hiding them is broken.

I don't know how clearly I explained. But as an example: if we do not say that migrants professing Islam are incompatible with the culture of democracy and human rights, then their percentage will increase until at one point they receive a sufficient majority, abolish human rights, democracy by violence and get what exists in all countries where the majority is Muslim.

 

[Celerity]

If we look more abstractly, not only trigger warnings, then this is a general tendency to delete any unpleasant information. Pessimists have no place in this world. Life is beautiful, anyone who disagrees with this and talks about unpleasant things will be condemned and banned.


And if you look at it from an even higher level of abstraction, from the point of view of cybernetics. Then the control system has positive and negative feedback at the input. Positive ones are amplified, negative ones are extinguished. Excluding information for negative feedback from the information system will lead to an inevitable increase in negative effects, because in the absence of information about negative effects they are not extinguished. Its hidden negative effects will increase until the system hiding them is broken.

I don't know how clearly I explained. But as an example: if we do not say that migrants professing Islam are incompatible with the culture of democracy and human rights, then their percentage will increase until at one point they receive a sufficient majority, abolish human rights, democracy by violence and get what exists in all countries where the majority is Muslim.

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I agree that we should be able to freely discuss these issues and that censoring such discussions is counterproductive for the reasons you give. Burying your head in the sand doesn't get rid of your problems, after all. It may feel good in the moment, but it will catch up with you.

 

[Kariope]

I think It's really helpful. I'm very sensitive to flashing lights/loud sudden noise/jumpscares etc. I wish It were used more so I wouldn't have panic attacks just because I wanted to watch a video I didn't know was going to have a jumpscare haha. I never watch anything on halloween or april fools because people think jumpscares are funny. And the prank will be ruined if they warn you about the thing.

 

[nux_walpurgis]

I appreciate them, especially when it comes to SA. I have a hard time watching/reading anything that includes it, and I appreciate it when I am warned so I can expect it, minimize shock, or chose not to read/watch all together.

 

[breatheout]

i think they're great, but some people take it too far. like that one video that went viral about someone on tiktok who had a trigger warning for some kind of hat. like a bunny beanie or smth. it was so weird imo.

 

[LetMeBeSad]

I don't mind them one way or another. Personally, I usually get a good understanding of what content I might be consuming based off the title. The ones that are vague are dumb and I generally don't read them anyways. It's always kind of funny when the title explicitly states what is being talked about but, then include trigger warnings for the obvious. That being said, that's my personal opinion and can understand they have use for many people.