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April 10, 2007
Content warnings?
Content warnings? [Warning: This link goes to a non-transparent partisan campaigning site, with a proclivity to the destruction of the values of liberality and tolerance in its quest to submission to dhimmitude to salve varied perceptions of personal inadequacy, and which is further funded by extraction of the labor of the masses by the state, and so should be read only by those who can actually Question Authority.] The BBC riffs off of Tim O'Reilly's "let's make a badge for nice people's weblogs". Me, I still think the Web is "caveat lector" territory, "let the reader beware" -- we need to let anyone participate in the conversation for reasons of sustainability, even if they choose anonymity instead of full participation, but that doesn't mean we need to publish them, and doesn't mean we need to believe them, and definitely doesn't mean that we should be too polite to be impolite to the bozos. Trying to make a hokey little amusement park out of the web's content will just lead to more repression, more counterproductive cliques. Someone in Tim's comments said it best: "Badges? We don't need to steenking badges!" The BBC's headline claims "Weblogs 'need content warnings". I say: take the BBC's stories only for what they're worth... don't give them undue credence just because the current staff has taken over an old and venerable institution... they've got major "content warning" problems themselves. (Disclaimer: This story annoys me... as if you couldn't tell. ;-)
Posted by JohnDowdell at April 10, 2007 07:50 AM
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Comments
Content warnings bring value to branding, IMHO (there are certain things i expect not to see on the Disney Channel, right?). Isn't there a market-driven need for adding value to your blog by consistent delivery of content of a particular kind? i don't know if badges are the answer, but i know i'm grateful for the NSFW acronym.
i'm always happy with anything that helps me find the content i want to see more quickly. But my actual internal filters are multi-dimensional (show me all the Flash video feeds that don't include the word @#$!&) and they change rapidly depending on my circumstances (now that my son isn't sitting behind me looking over his shoulder when he should be doing his homework, i can read comments on Slashdot....).
It might sound like i want warnings on varying levels of offensive content, but i'm really after something broader: i'd like other filters as well. For instance, how about a badge/acronym for varying levels of researched commentary ("Talked to eye-witness" and "Talking out of my hat")?
Time is short. Bloggers produce more than i can read. What should i pay attention to?
Posted by: Skipper Pickle at April 10, 2007 10:18 AM
Hi Skipper!
I agree on the usefulness of content advisories. Setting up a clear expectation for the audience is useful.
I'm also in favor of third-party editors, who can suggest content that their audiences would like.
I'm just not keen on binary codes imposed by others, which are then subject to wrestling during redefinition. Part of me is also dismayed by agenda-driven storytellers like the BBC publicly lobbying for dress codes on those upstart weblogs. That's why I reacted so strongly earlier today.
jd
Posted by: John Dowdell at April 10, 2007 01:27 PM