[Answered] Content Warnings On Questionable Pets

[viatorai]

Spiders, gore, rot, zombies, clowns, insects, worms, dolls, snakes, hole clusters...

These things and more can easily send people into a panic, or even an anxiety attack.

In a lot of events, and sometimes in breeding entries, there are a number of pets with elements to them that can disturb others, yet we have little to no way of knowing what we're going to see until we see it, and by then it's too late.

I'd like to ask the staff to come up with a way to place warnings in events/breedings/places where there's going to be images for pets that may prove to make some customers uncomfortable at best, sick at the worst.

Of course, this says nothing about owners properly tagging/warning for/hiding their ponies, but one does hope that people would be courteous about such things and use spoilers for pets of their that may trigger some people.

I understand that there would be a need to keep track as to what to warn for, but that can easily be solved by creating a thread in the guild somewhere where people can post their fears/triggers. Keep a list in the first/second posts for people to look over to know what they may need to warn for.

I am not saying to stop creating zombie doll clown ponies with spider friends and butterfly wings, but just to warn shopgoers about them in events/breedings/etc in order to prevent them from potentially being triggered.

I'd love to see regard for shopgoers' mental health, as some phobias/fears can be horribly detrimental and downright unhealthy for the affected person(s).

(I would also like to ask that certain slurs no longer be allowed to be used as names, but that is an issue for another thread.)

Thank you for reading and in advance for feedback!  

[Twitchapher the 3rd]

This isn't Tumblr. No.

When it comes down to it, it's art and people like different things. The colourist work hard and just because you don't agree with what's on it doesn't mean we should suddenly have to hide it. What if this gorey pony was the pride of this colourist because they thought it looked amazing? And if we start censoring stuff might as well just have no edits as all because the internet has taught me everyone is 'trigger'ed by EVERYTHING. No one should have the right to tell someone what they can or can't show off. It's part of free speech.

We don't censor Michelangelo's David, why should we censor the hard work here? If you don't like it, block the image and move on.  

[Kamiki]

There are unending things some people are triggered by. I just don't see how the shop could possibly ever enforce this.

If you're sooooo triggered by something that you can't even stand to see it briefly on a cartoon horse and keep scrolling by then maybe a shop that's so it and popular with so many edits and elements isn't the right place for someone that traumatized.. Or stay out of breeding raffles or parades (besides their own posts).

I'm not trying to be insensitive. But being 'uncomfortable by' or 'grossed out' by something isn't the same as being triggered. If you are actually triggered by certain things, that's not something a shop as big as Soq can manage for you.

I just can't think of any way the shop could avoid any display of things that one person might be triggered by. I understand mental health is important, but so is learning to manage it.  

[Kamiki]

Related:

http://mh-things.tumblr.com/post/53013431068/dealing-with-triggers-and-trigger-warnings

I’m sure you’ve noticed the new trend that seems to be emerging on tumblr; people requesting others use “trigger warnings,” on a variety of subjects ranging from violence, abuse, injury and death to things like pregnancy, allergies, dolls, feet, mice, food and clowns, to name a few of the stranger ones.

I believe posts that explicitly describe or picture self harm, eating disorders, suicide and violence that are clearly intended to instruct people on or glorify those behaviours don’t belong on tumblr at all, trigger warnings or not. However this content does exist, and chances are you’ll accidentally be exposed to it when looking at the mental health, mental illness or recovery tags. And chances are that if you have urges to harm yourself, have experienced trauma or suffer from a mental disorder of any kind (but particularly dissociative disorders, PTSD and other anxiety disorders), you’ll have a certain set of triggers and be exposed to these both on tumblr and in everyday life.

What may or may not trigger you is a very individual thing, and unfortunately, even if every last tumblr post containing something that triggered you was tagged, you will still come across triggering content around the internet, on television and in life. So instead of requiring other bloggers to take responsibility and tag certain things for you, you need to learn to manage your response to these triggers. There are many strategies you can employ to help regain control over your responses to distressing scenarios- CBT and DBT techniques, calming techniques and PRN medications can be helpful.

As for people who haven’t experienced mental health issues or trauma demanding the use of trigger warnings on posts they find offensive of unpleasant- when doing this you are further trivialising genuine mental illnesses by categorising your offence as the same as the panic attacks, anxiety, dissociation, self harm urges and other symptoms mentally ill people experience.

If you are having trouble controlling your response to triggers, discuss this issue with a health professional. Call a helpline, your treatment team or go to an ER immediately if you feel you are unable to keep yourself safe.  

[Wasteland Wyvern]

I suffer from several phobias including clowns, gore, and clustered holes and despite this I can still appreciate a Soq that has some or all of those elements. They do not trigger things for me.

Honestly I just agree with Kamiki and Twitch. Definitely a no.  

[one over three]

We talked about this once actually. Ultimately it was decided that it would be impossible. There's too many phobia's out there to account for.

However! If you do have a phobia that can't be handled by just scrolling past something I suggest getting an image blocker and just blocking it. That way you don't have to see it again. :3  

[viatorai]

This has nothing to do with it being about Tumblr.

It has everything to do with the fact that some things can completely screw up a person's mental stability when they're not warned that they're about to see something that they desperately try to avoid any other time.

It's not saying, as I put in my post, to stop making such pets. I personally adore and love zombierots but some elements on some pets have made me need to avoid gaia altogether for a while to recover a bit.

I'm not saying to hide everything. I'm not saying that at all.

I'm saying, at the very least, warn for it. A small sentence at the top of a post saying 'Warning; This event will contain x, y, z!' would be of little to no burden on anyone, and could easily help those with fears/triggers to prepare themselves.

If you, personally, want to be insensitive to others then that's fine. the shop itself? Some sensitivity might be nice.  

[Twitchapher the 3rd]

STAFF: We've removed this comment due to its insensitivity.  

[Devil NightShade]

I'm sorry, blunt-ness here.

If something bothers someone that bad, then they should block the image. Nobody colorist or owner alike should be made to feel like they can't show off their pets because of someone else's feelings when an image can easily be blocked.

Trying to trigger warning -everything- can be a problem, because you never know what can trigger whom.

The shop can only do so much.  

[one over three]

mindsend

hanging gallow

ATh e a r t

I think this is an important one to get some official say so on.  

[Phail Ninja]

This has been discussed by staff behind the scenes before - and we decided we would not do this as a standard rule. This is not being insensitive, it is simply impossible to draw a line of where a 'legit phobia' vs. 'something that mildly discomforts me' is, ultimately.

Personally, me? I'm terrified of needles. And you know what? I see them all the time. In films - no trigger warnings. On posters in public sometimes. Hell, I see them at work because I work in a lab. You will come across things in your life that you cannot be ready for - no amount of trigger warnings can shield you from it. And unfortunately, if I see needles, I have to deal with it. Because it's my phobia and my problem. Other people shouldn't have to dance around on eggshells around me - it's me who should be looking away, not them who have to hide it in case another 1 in a million person is also upset by them.



Not to mention - we cannot stop people from showing off pets in sigs, or in thread, or in their teepees, or in breeding raffles. You WILL come across these pets 100% in your time at Soq.


I think Kamiki phrased these really nicely <3

"I'm not trying to be insensitive. But being 'uncomfortable by' or 'grossed out' by something isn't the same as being triggered. If you are actually triggered by certain things, that's not something a shop as big as Soq can manage for you." and "I understand mental health is important, but so is learning to manage it."

 

[Kamiki]

But how could you possibly list every trigger someone could possibly have? The shop has mice and snakes as set familiars. So.... That's covered. If you have a trigger to any of the soq or familiar breeds you automatically hAve a warning they will pop up in the shop.

The Halloween events will have scarey things. That will probably include zombies and spiders.

A carnival event may very well include clowns.

I hate to say 'use common sense' because that's subjective, but you can think critically about these things. Soq is for everyone. Tucking images behind spoiler tags is really disresptful imho to the owner of the pets and the colorists.  

[viatorai]

Changed the wording a bit.

And I touched on the fact that individual people cannot be made to warn for the type of ponies they have already.

Even if something is 'only mildly uncomfortable', why risk it being a legit thing for people though?

I am going to reiterate;

This is not meant to ask people to censor all the ponies ever. This is only a request to warn for content.

I am also shocked and kind of sad that 'Learn to manage your mental illness better!' has basically been said.  

[ramenli]

I think this is unreasonable for a couple of reasons:

One: There isn't an extensive tagging system like other websites such as tumblr. The logistics of tagging when the feature isn't built into Gaia doesn't make a lot of sense.

Two: Regarding the idea that every time a thread was made, people would have to look over the list of possible triggers you suggested making and list out every single one that would apply. That's a lot of time and effort, especially if it's for a large raffle. It's not reasonable to ask staff to do this, they've got enough on their plates and lets not forget that they are doing this for free in the grand scheme of things.

Three: Breedings and other threads: At the time of being posted a staff member cannot tell what sort of pets might be entered. Any shop member could enter a clown soq. At what point is the staffer supposed to tag that the thread has a clown in it? Again, it comes down to the logistics of implementation.

Four: Common sense: Yes, there are pets in events that are outliers, but more often than not you can use common judgment to tell if there's something you'll be freaked out by. Halloween events are typically going to contain gory ponies, spiders, etc. If that isn't your thing you can avoid the event. If you don't want to avoid the event in it's entirety it may be time to find a friend that could check a thread for you if you have reason to suspect a clown might be hiding behind curtain number three.

Furthermore: what would happen to a staffer that didn't tag something that one person was triggered by?

The idea places an unreasonable strain on staff members and has no practical implementation practice, so I definitely don't support it, despite having a phobia of my own.