frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

Open in hackernews

The term 'NSFW' is problematic and overdue for retirement

https://neilzone.co.uk/2025/08/the-term-nsfw-is-problematic-and-overdue-for-retirement/
1•edward•1h ago

Comments

latexr•1h ago
> “NSFW” is an initialism for “Not Safe For Work”.

> It is, IMHO, a lazy, unhelpful, even stigmatising, shorthand.

So is “IMHO” (lazy and unhelpful, not stigmatising), and I’d argue even more so. You’re posting about a subjective matter, to your own blog, under your own name. Of course it’s “your opinion” (if it were not, you could link to sources), and why is it “humble”?

I don’t recall ever seeing a helpful use of “IMHO”. “NSFW”, on the other hand, may be imperfect but at least carries a signal. We can debate if it is lazy or stigmatising (perhaps it is) but what it definitely is not is unhelpful.

> If the goal of the use of the “NSFW” tag is to help users decide whether or not to view the tagged content

It’s not. Or at least it’s not its only goal. The clue is in the words: Not Safe For Work. What it means is that if you want to look at the content, consider your environment. The initialism is there so you are not caught off guard seeing something risqué which may get you in trouble if anyone were to look over your shoulder at that exact moment. The term concerns itself with corporate desk work, it’s for content which could be problematic in strict work environments.

Furthermore, it exists precisely to be used in situations where a better tagging system isn’t available. Argue for social networks to have better tagging of fringe content, sure; but when they don’t, having a a vague and imperfect but instantly recognisable signal is extremely useful.

al_borland•29m ago
For those who work in jobs where this content doesn’t matter, or might be required viewing, they know it. These people are the exception, not the rule.

There also is some degree of differentiation between the classic NSFW and gore, which is either to tag it as gore or NSFL.

This whole post just seems like someone trying to get upset about something no normal person has a problem with. This trend of trying to normalize everything to the point where we can’t even differentiate between safe and unsafe content for typical workplaces or polite company, is much more problematic than the NSFW tag. I’m so tired of these types of takes.

beardyw•18m ago
Nobody gets to define English usage so it matters little what anyone thinks. It will disappear when people stop using it.

For French see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acad%C3%A9mie_Fran%C3%A7aise

What's the best way to build trust in digital insurance?

https://e-mai.ma/a-propos-de-mai/
1•MAI_inssurance•4m ago•0 comments

Good vibrations: Scientists use imaging technology to visualize heat

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-07-good-vibrations-scientists-imaging-technology.html
1•PaulHoule•4m ago•0 comments

Drop visual annotations for your coding agent

https://github.com/RaphaelRegnier/vibe-annotations
1•RaphR•5m ago•0 comments

California Central Valley keeps sinking and it's taking home values down with it

https://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/californias-central-valley-sinks-home-values-20809200.php
2•Stratoscope•5m ago•0 comments

Meteorite that punched through Georgia roof may be older than Earth itself

https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteorite-that-punched-a-hole-through-georgia-roof-may-be-older-than-earth-itself
1•Stratoscope•6m ago•0 comments

Mark Zuckerberg angers locals in Silicon Valley enclave over 11-home compound

https://nypost.com/2025/08/11/real-estate/mark-zuckerberg-angers-silicon-valley-locals-over-11-home-110m-compound/
1•Stratoscope•8m ago•0 comments

Bird signs and cycles, February, 2024

https://subject.space/projects-static/winter-bird-cycles/
1•sjmulder•9m ago•0 comments

D-cysteine impairs tumour growth by inhibiting cysteine desulfurase NFS1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-025-01339-1
1•bookofjoe•9m ago•0 comments

Relying on AI in Colonoscopies May Erode Clinicians' Skills

https://www.medpagetoday.com/gastroenterology/coloncancer/116968
1•jtbayly•12m ago•0 comments

His psychosis was a mystery–until doctors learned about ChatGPT's health advice

https://www.psypost.org/his-psychosis-was-a-mystery-until-doctors-learned-about-chatgpts-health-advice/
2•01-_-•12m ago•1 comments

Free Online Markdown to PDF Converter – Live Preview and Export

https://www.ftmi.info/en/markdown-to-pdf.html
1•york_ren•13m ago•0 comments

Linus Torvalds blasts kernel dev for making the world worse with garbage patches

https://www.zdnet.com/article/linus-torvalds-blasts-kernel-dev-for-making-the-world-worse-with-garbage-patches/
1•isaacfrond•15m ago•0 comments

Localhost: Omar and Andrés on the Folk Computer Gadget [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrXEtG3JILo
1•surprisetalk•18m ago•0 comments

Help improve federal mass transit policy

https://www.slowboring.com/p/help-improve-federal-mass-transit
1•surprisetalk•19m ago•0 comments

Payload Fraction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_fraction
2•surprisetalk•19m ago•0 comments

Two brothers' archive of 1990s Star Wars images made on MS Paintbrush (2014)

https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/star-wars
2•Michelangelo11•19m ago•0 comments

Wplace – Paint the World

https://wplace.live
1•surprisetalk•19m ago•0 comments

Secret Messengers: Disseminating SIGINT in the Second World War [pdf]

https://media.defense.gov/2025/Jul/25/2003761271/-1/-1/0/SECRET_MESSENGERS.PDF
1•almost-exactly•22m ago•0 comments

MCP to Play your favorite Spotify tracks as Claude Code completion notifications

https://github.com/denar90/suzu-mcp
1•denar90•23m ago•0 comments

New glasses will supercharge hearing with AI

https://www.hw.ac.uk/news/2025/new-glasses-will-supercharge-hearing-with-ai
1•geox•24m ago•1 comments

UK expands police facial recognition rollout with 10 new facial recognition vans

https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/13/uk_expands_police_facial_recognition/
2•rntn•24m ago•0 comments

Is Perplexity's $34B offer to buy Chrome real or a marketing stunt?

https://www.computerworld.com/article/4038675/is-perplexitys-34-billion-offer-to-buy-chrome-real-or-a-marketing-stunt.html
1•dotcoma•26m ago•0 comments

Technoblogy – A NeoPixel Driver Using AVR Hardware

http://www.technoblogy.com/show?5BGM
2•chrisjj•31m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Play a game and help us better understand how people perceive color

https://www.survey-xact.dk/LinkCollector?key=AW815UMQL23J
2•AndreasM•32m ago•1 comments

Suetopia: Generative AI is a lawsuit waiting to happen to your business

https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/12/genai_lawsuit/
5•chrisjj•33m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Simple and Easy-to-Use Local API Testing Tool

https://github.com/dage212/fire-doc
3•dage212•34m ago•0 comments

Nocturne: New firmware for Spotify's Car Thing

https://usenocturne.com
2•fdb•35m ago•0 comments

We empower communities and nations around the world to map the electrical grid

https://MapYourGrid.org/
3•protontypes•37m ago•0 comments

The World of Quantum Advantage

https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.05720
2•jonbaer•38m ago•0 comments

Technological Folie à Deux:Feedback Loops Between AI Chatbots and Mental Illness

https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.19218
3•pera•39m ago•0 comments