Staffing Triggers: How to handle them?

[Morrigan 1,826]

So while I don't have any (at least none that I know of) for myself so I don't have a reason to use them however I do understand that others do. Things in ones past influences how anyone can feel about something and it can be extremely uncomfortable to read. However, I waffle on the best way to express this. Even here on the Initiative I'm not sure if they are set up in a way that works well enough for a majority of members.

 

So that being said I have a few questions:
What ways do you have trigger warnings set up (if you even do)?

Does it work well for you?

Do you have a generalized warning for anything that can be triggering (suicide, abuse, drugs sex etc) or something specific per trigger?

 

For those that have triggers:

Do you like have warnings?

How do you like to be warned? (Topic title, top of the first post etc)

Do you want to know the specific warning or just a general knowledge will let you know to be careful?

Could it be done better?

[CovertSphinx 710]

I don't use "trigger warnings" on any of my sites, never have. I also rarely had the opportunity to really dive into the "darkest" topics for the most part. The one thing I always DID do, however, was make a small notation for members to check with their thread partners as per anything they might feel is borderline.

[Morrigan 1,826]

Well my concern is less about the partner and more about the potential reader. @CovertSphinx

[CovertSphinx 710]

33 minutes ago, Morrigan said:

Well my concern is less about the partner and more about the potential reader. @CovertSphinx

 

True, a Tag in the threadtitle with some sort of shorthand would probably be best in that case. To be honest I haven't seen many people read random threads that weren't theirs before.

[Morrigan 1,826]

I have an odd amount of people that thread stalk me and that's why I put this forth because if someone is thread stalking me I want to know what would be the best way to make sure relevant information is there from the get go.

 

I also don't know what sort of thing should be warned about. I mean Sex, Gore, Self Harm but on one site I was told pregnancy topics should be marked if it's about complications. So it's all kinds of confusing to me. @CovertSphinx

[CovertSphinx 710]

The "Majors" I always thought were: Rape/Incest, Excessively Detailed Gore, Domestic Abuse, Miscarriage/Abortion, Suicide/Self-Harm. With minors in PTSD-related self-destruction and Alcohol Abuse.

 

But to be honest so many people have their own personal demons and I believe its almost impossible to cover everything because of it.

[Guest Archaic Cyborg]

I have a trigger warning system because even if I personally had none, it's just common courtesy and costs writers nothing. I only require a thread tag, e.g TW character death, gore, suicide themes. I also made a custom post marker label; I don't ask for a warning for general violence, especially for a setting where it's EVERYWHERE.

 

I also won't cater to SJWs who are 'triggered' by everything under the damn sun. A squick is never the same thing as a trigger.

[Josie 198]

On my sites, it's a given that sensitive topics are going to be dealt with in some way. I've put up a general warning on a forum before for that reason- that if you're not into that, don't read, don't join. Even so, we still use trigger warnings on occasion for things like sexual abuse, torture, or explicit drug use. Graphic suicides would probably earn one as well, but so far we've only had characters "passively" commit suicide, ie: letting themselves freeze to death, and not described in much detail. Basically, if it's considered fucked up even in the world we're reading about, it'll earn a trigger warning. As people have already been given a warning about the content of the site, it's what makes the most sense. That being said though, not a single one of my members has ever expressed that something on the forum has been triggering for them.

 

I think the key thing to remember with triggers is that none of them are a given and that even if you have a long list of things to mark as triggering, you're still going to miss out on a trigger for someone, somewhere. If you are going to make use of trigger warnings on your site, then you need to have some documented way for members to see what you expect to be marked as triggering. If you think pregnancy is a triggering topic, then it needs to go on that list along with rape or gore or whatever else.

[Kit the Human 758]

We just tag the common triggers in the thread description.

 

If a member raises something else as being a trigger for them, I'll ask the other members to add that to their mental list of things to trigger. It's not on me judge whether or not it's a 'legitimate' trigger.

 

The pregnancy one for example? I wouldn't trigger for it unless I have a member who finds it triggering.

[Morrigan 1,826]

@Kit the Human what is your standard list if I can ask? It appears to be different for each person.

[AgelessApple 3]

My trigger system is pretty basic, if its got excessive bad language you put [L] in the topic description, violence is [V] and sexual content is [ S]  (though really no one should be posting that on my board, due to non-premiumness at present). Then there is a general warning which is a [G - *warning*] so if it involved suicide the member would be expected to put [G - Suicide] in the description.

 

This system works well as long as members actually do it, but I trust that they will! Plus its very simple to understand, for me at least!

 

(sorry for the strikethrough, I cant seem to fix it )

[xexes 108]

My spouse runs a 3-3-3 site that is crime-oriented.

 

Because we don't actually write any rape/self-harm/violence/triggery-subjects and they are only rare side-mentions, we took a little liberty with triggers and don't really have them - we simply use a combination of [M] and a special tag that makes users age-verify for R-rated writing.

 

In a way this can sound insensitive. We thought that we would wait for our community to mention it and then implement it when it is wanted. That way, the community self-moderates itself and tells us when it is needed.

 

 

Edited February 20, 2017 by xexes
I accidentally a word

[Morrigan 1,826]

That's a great idea @xexes the only issue I have with that is that I've been told by people that have triggers that if there aren't warnings they won't read other peoples threads for fear of those triggers. I don't want to discourage people from reading other peoples posts simply because I don't understand what they have an issue with.

 

It's not insensitive to me I, for the most part, agree with the method.

[VirusZero 176]

So I'm going to be extremely up front on this. I, personally, am not fond of them. I think they do more harm than good. (I mean everything can be a trigger and it's never so simple that "TW: assault" works like intended. The human mind doesn't function that way. It's specific things keyed to that event... whether a scent or colour or sound that gets a reaction. EX- a car crash victim may be fine driving but suffer the effects if someone starts tailgating. But to just say "car crash" to them would mean nothing nor would it really affect their emotional state. Plus of course there's the whole issue of avoidance reinforcing negative emotions. Though by that token I'm not saying shove an issue in their face either... that can, and usually does, backfire.)

Especially since most cases they have been used have been by people who use them for uncomfortable rather than their actual intended purpose... (Which was people with diagnosed cases of PTSD. Which if you do not have a diagnosed case then don't use them because in all truth you are very likely using them wrong and doing more harm than good in the process.)

 

 

So with that out of the way... 

 

On site I don't have any set in in any way. My policy is simply that if someone wants to use them then they can. However they are not to attempt to force others to use them in any way. They also may not complain about warnings not being used because any reading is done at their own discretion. (Basically, they could have stopped reading at any time and chose not to. So because they chose to continue they lose any right to complain afterwards. Especially if they're in the mature section.)

 

Similarly potential readers have the same option. They can stop reading at any time, they don't have to keep reading. It's neither that author's fault nor responsibility if they chose to keep going. 

 

One thing I do though is, on our wiki, we have pages for each member. On these pages we can list things that we like/don't like. Everything is optional there. So if someone hates gore, they can list it there. Their profile is linked to each of their posts too so it's extremely easy to find. 

 

[Kit the Human 758]

14 hours ago, Morrigan said:

@Kit the Human what is your standard list if I can ask? It appears to be different for each person.

 

I consider rape, excessive gore, suicide ideation/attempt & torture to be standard.

 

I consider them 'standard' because even if you're not triggered by them, it's the kind of content that you might just not want read about.

 

Further things like rape and depression are common enough that the chances of you having a member who has experienced either is pretty high.