Trigger warnings, censorship, and sensitive content, explained
The cyclical nature of flagging, censoring, and outsmarting triggering topics
Welcome to Gen Z Translator, where I break down trending topics on Fridays. If you’re new, you can subscribe here and follow me on Threads or X. Views are my own.
Note: Not to spoil my personal stance, but the following includes discussion of sensitive topics that may be triggering to some.
I was reading my email the other day when I came across a newsletter from a writing contest judge. In the post, she gave advice for ways to stop opening your novels if you want to succeed in the competition.
In her third point, she said, “Over 50% of entries opened w/ vi.ol.ent imagery (sorry for the censoring - email rules and all that).”
This is nothing against this particular writer – I enjoy her writing advice – but it does beg an interesting question. To what extent do we need to censor ourselves online?
When trigger warnings first came around, they were immediately thrown back in my generation’s face as we were labeled “woke Gen Z snowflakes.” Pros of the practice includ…
