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Comment by rit | Hacker News Reader

The amount of hyperbole and ranting on the NSFW angle to me on this thread over the last day is rather disappointing.

One should not think of the NSFW tag as a comment on morality, puritanism or anything else. It is simply a common part of netiquette which developed as a courtesy.

"Hey, there is some stuff in this link such as nudity, questionable content, etc which may be an issue for you if you are at work, sitting in public or somewhere else potentially sensitive. Just a heads up!"

All it is meant to do is let you know. Some people work in schools, libraries or other places where this isn't OK. Not to mention that while many of us don't have any issues with nudity, myself included, we might not want to browse it at work.

Get over the whole "Oh my god $XYZ is so full of prudes, in my country this is totally OK" and appreciate the fact that it's considered polite.

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> "All it is meant to do is let you know."

Specifically, it allows you to make an informed decision as to whether, when, where, and in whose company to access the page in question.

For example, I don't care one way or the other about "explicit language" for my own sake, but I'd like to limit my toddler's exposure. An NSFW-language warning on videos is a courtesy to me.

I was going to agree with you before I actually clicked the link.

Any place where this is NSFW has some serious issues. Sure, I know such places exists, but you cannot expect submitters to constantly be aware of such outliers any time they submit a link. Otherwise we would constantly have to check a whole list of obscure cultural sensitivities around the planet.

You want an NSFW tag for this utterly harmless link, just ask politely. But don't accuse people for whom it's genuinely hard to imagine why this would be an issue of being impolite.

I feel like a prude now, but you saw the boobs, right?

And to preclude the "But it is art!" argument, the point of NSFW is what you think about it being art has no bearing on what your boss thinks.

And rickmb's point is that some people may not even realize that this would be NSFW in some places. Not everyone is an American or knows how prudish people are here.

rickmb said "Sure, I know such places exists" -- and anyone here who didn't know has now been informed. "I didn't know" is no longer a valid excuse.

Once you understand that nudity is a big no-no in some workplaces, it's impolite to leave off the NSFW label.

That's why I said "some people".

"but you cannot expect submitters to constantly be aware of such outliers any time they submit a link. Otherwise we would constantly have to check a whole list of obscure cultural sensitivities around the planet"

Of course you know what's not allowed at your work. Do you keep tabs on everything else? I hope so! There are thousands of different cultures out there, better not miss any!

It's not a matter of keeping tabs on every possible cultural taboo. True outliers aren't the issue here. Be aware of common issues for the audience of the website you're posting on, and label appropriately. Given the audience for HN, nudity of any kind, sexual content (including text), and profanity in audio/video are all issues for a large enough percentage of the audience that they should have the NSFW label. (If you were not previously aware of these taboos, you are now.)

My own "workplace" is home; I'm a full-time parent, and not at all worried about being fired. But I recognize the issues that are common for others, and label my posts appropriately. Please have the courtesy to do the same.

The first clue on common issues being this site is in English. Not to take an Anglo-centric point of view, but odds are the overwhelming majority of HN readers work somewhere with Western workplace values.

(Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the 'NSFW' tag is quite appropriate in all the main English hubs- USA, UK, Canada, Australia, probably even Singapore)

This is increasingly weird for me. I'm self employed, I work at home, or in an office with three other males who are self employed. I drink, I swear, I know how babies are made and have made one with my wife. I like boobs! I have art with boobs on the walls of my house.

And yet I don't want my wife or any of my colleagues to look over my shoulder and see boobs on my screen. I'm not in any _danger_ if that happens, so it's not strictly _unsafe_ for work. But it's embarrassing and uncomfortable. I would be peeved to inadvertantly click on a link, see boobs (they were decent boobs too, it's not like I hate them), and then be embarrassed in front of people.

I didn't really think I was a prude until this thread. I mean, perhaps in a hundred years we'll laugh about attitudes to boobs the way we laugh about Victorian attitudes to ankles and the like? But today, for almost everyone I know ANKLES ARE FILTH^H^H^H^H boobs are NSFW.

Given that there are thousands of HN readers, what are the chances that at least a few of them have an unreasonable coworker, sysadmin, or corporate policy?

That's why the NSFW convention exists. Be aware that nudity of any kind, sexual content (including text), and profanity in audio/video can get people into trouble. Given that you are now aware of this issue, it would be impolite not to use the NSFW label in those circumstances.

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