Those four little letters

Okay, is there anyone out there who really doesn't know what NSFW means? Right, then. Please put the Internet down, and slowly back away.

So it seems only right to ask: What is and isn't "NSFW" anymore?

"We're not trying to arbitrarily post work-sensitive material," said [Alex Blagg, the managing editor of VH1's Best Week Ever blog], who oversees the 15 to 17 entries that end up on BestWeekEver.tv each weekday. "We're doing it because it's funny, and we hope the readers take upon themselves the responsibility to know what is and isn't safe for their own offices."

My criteria is simple: If it's something that would have been zapped by our fairly sensitive corporate net.nanny software, it's NSFW as far as I'm concerned. That, or if it features loud audio, out of respect for my cubicle and open-floor-plan-dwelling brethren and sistren (now there's an opportunity for the gender-neutral pronoun folks). Better to err on the side of caution. People can always follow the link at home.

(And if you really want to be a mensch, consider adding a brief description of what the link delivers, so people can be better informed in the cases where your idea of NSFW and theirs do not overlap.)

Posted by Charles Kuffner on June 27, 2007 to Websurfing