Twitter is no longer a “safe space”. It has become a vehicle for outrage, to the point where many no longer choose to express themselves at all, or do so skittishly through a network of private messages. Following the furores of the last couple of weeks, Suzanne Moore has put a trigger warning on her Twitter bio, a disclaimer as if to say “will cause offence”. That, and her joking about the terminology with Julie Bindel, caused yet more disapproval from some corners of the social network. A trigger warning is not something to joke about. Trauma is not something to joke about. Trigger warning: this next tweet contains a flippant remark about trigger warnings.
For those not au fait with the terminology of the small corner of the internet that makes up feminist websites and message boards, a “trigger warning” initially existed to warn survivors of violence and rape, or those suffering from eating disorders, that an article or blog post may contain language that might “trigger” traumatic memories, thus causing flashbacks, panic attacks, or distress. A worthy goal, although also of limited use, as I’ll go on to explain. However, in recent years the phrase seems to have become shorthand for “anything you may not like”, and to many has taken on the unpleasant connotation of providing a means for the oversensitive internet language police to vet content – some would argue.
Content from our partners
