Front-page porn

April 25, 2014 10:26 AM

I thought this post was more than a little R/X-rated for its front-page content. While it was a funny link, I wouldn't have wanted that on my screen if, say, a student wandered into my office (and I'm at university). I wouldn't have minded a NSFW on the front page, with the content below the fold/link, but - sex, naked, sex, plow into, orgasm, and orgasm on the front page? Or am I a prude, in my dotage, who shouldn't have Metafilter open at work?
posted by Dashy to Etiquette/Policy at 10:26 AM (85 comments total)

I don't have any opinions about prudeness or the process of doting, but as a general rule having saucy language on the front page is considered okay, yeah. To the extent that people use NSFW warnings on Metafilter it's primarily for unexpected graphic-as-in-pictorial nudity on the far side of a link; sexually-themed text content is, like curse words, something that will show up in a post now and then and there's no expectation at a policy level that it will be obscured.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:32 AM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

I feel ya. I'm a little nervous myself that FPP language would trip some internet filter system I have at work. But, personally I know that virtually any words could appear on a MeFi FPP. Words, tho, which isn't nearly as dangerous as images.

uh, at a meta level, though, I can't not point out that those words you are concerned with yourself are not "below the fold" on this very post you yourself have written.
posted by rebent at 10:33 AM on April 25, 2014 [9 favorites]

cortex: "...process of doting..."

Pssst: 'Dotage.' Not 'doting.' :)
posted by zarq at 10:35 AM on April 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

MeFi is, in general, NSFW. As in, you probably won't get any done if you're on MetaFilter*.

*mods excepted
posted by carsonb at 10:39 AM on April 25, 2014 [22 favorites]

Oh man I totally got called out for this one time and if this thread isn't comment-for-comment a duplicate of that one I will be enraged by hypocrisy.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:40 AM on April 25, 2014 [15 favorites]

Dotaging, please, if not the more formal dotagizationerizing.
posted by Dip Flash at 10:40 AM on April 25, 2014 [6 favorites]

That's why I restrict my on-the-job MeFi use to the employee restroom.
posted by jonmc at 10:41 AM on April 25, 2014 [4 favorites]

dotagizationerizing

When you have to make a special trip to your grandmother's house because her PC is so infected with malware

(Is it still a sniglet if I'm not Rich Hall?)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:43 AM on April 25, 2014 [7 favorites]

I thought it was weird, but not actionable-weird just "eh I don't care for that" weird. So I don't think you're a prude but yeah maybe you should presume MeFi may be textually NSFW.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:43 AM on April 25, 2014

'Dotage.' Not 'doting.'

I ACKNOWLEDGE I WAS CHEEKILY MESSING ABOUT WITH EXPECTED INFLECTIONS OF THE DIVERGENT USAGES BUT BOTH HAVE THE SAME INFINITIVE VERB FORM OF "DOTE"
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:45 AM on April 25, 2014 [14 favorites]

So I don't think you're a prude

Insufficient evidence. Sure, *this* doesn't prove Dashy is a prude. But maybe they spend their spare time knitting underwear for public statuary and bowdlerizing the Ladies Home Journal.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:51 AM on April 25, 2014 [12 favorites]

giant text

that's a thing, with dotage, you have to make sense of the dottage.
posted by Dashy at 10:55 AM on April 25, 2014 [3 favorites]

Once Google has dotageitized everyone we won't even own our own old age!
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:00 AM on April 25, 2014

Insufficient evidence.

I love the fact that I am not a court of law. I have sufficient evidence that I don't think Dashy is a prude. Dashy could, however, be a prune.

on the internet know one knows you're a prune
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:04 AM on April 25, 2014 [18 favorites]

It's fascinating to me just how much people have internatlized Law & Order and project it into everyday conversation.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:10 AM on April 25, 2014 [5 favorites]

Every day I try to live the phrase "depraved indifference."
posted by griphus at 11:21 AM on April 25, 2014 [25 favorites]

Dashy could, however, be a prune.

Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to prove this beyond a raisinable doubt.
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:21 AM on April 25, 2014 [72 favorites]

I was mildly miffed that the first comment in that thread was you calling for a NSFW tag. NSFW tags make sense for things where the framing doesn't make that clear, but in this case I thought it obvious; would the addition of the letters NSFW somehow have made it OK for your boss to have seen what you were reading? I don't get it. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just genuinely confused about why you asked in the first place, and are now bringing it up in the grey.
posted by axiom at 11:23 AM on April 25, 2014 [11 favorites]

I'm probably a prude. And I work at home. And I realize we're all grownups. But, you know, I would prefer it if FPPs kept provocative language and Carlin's seven words below the fold. So if we're taking a vote here, that's my vote.
posted by mochapickle at 11:24 AM on April 25, 2014

I'm a prude but I also say "fuck" all the time. Just thought I'd share.
posted by maryr at 11:25 AM on April 25, 2014 [5 favorites]

jessamyn: "I love the fact that I am not a court of law."

A ha! You are, in fact, an AGENT of the law!
posted by Chrysostom at 11:25 AM on April 25, 2014 [9 favorites]

Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to prove this beyond a raisinable doubt.

No need to play devil's apricot.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:25 AM on April 25, 2014 [11 favorites]

I am now imagining jessamyn strenly saying "I am the Law!" before deleting a perp. Or a prune.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:26 AM on April 25, 2014

I wasn't thrilled with the above-fold teaser -- a woman screaming in pain is apparently hurr durr hurr funny? Yuuuuck.
posted by nacho fries at 11:26 AM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

MeFi is, in general, NSFW. As in, you probably won't get any done if you're on MetaFilter*.

*mods excepted
posted by carsonb at 1:39 PM on April 25

Given the content of the FPP, that's an apropos use of the word ON. And now we can all be thinking fondly of Metafilter as whatever gender you feel appropriate and you can enjoy this song.
posted by Nanukthedog at 11:28 AM on April 25, 2014

It's fascinating to me just how much people have internatlized Law & Order and project it into everyday conversation.

Objection! Counsel is beavering the witness!
posted by octobersurprise at 11:29 AM on April 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

[Sam Waterston head bobbling]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:31 AM on April 25, 2014

GenjiandProust: "I am now imagining jessamyn strenly saying "I am the Law!" "

The quality of mercy is not strenly
posted by chavenet at 11:31 AM on April 25, 2014 [6 favorites]

axiom, what I meant to convey (perhaps did not do well, from a phone at the time) was that the FPP itself would have been better constructed as a short PG-rated lead-in with NSFW on the front page, and the text from would have been better placed below the fold.

For me, a NSFW tag means "don't click this if you don't want $SEXYTIMES on your screen at work", whatever the form of $SEXYTIMES is - so if the text was below the fold with a NSFW warning on the front page, that would have worked out better. I was really unhappy imagining myself at work, with that popping up.
posted by Dashy at 11:35 AM on April 25, 2014

'Dotage.' Not 'doting.'

Dogeing. Very grammar. Much languaging. Such pedant.


posted by Celsius1414 at 11:39 AM on April 25, 2014 [11 favorites]

NSFW
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 11:40 AM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

The quality of mercy is not strenly

5 years in an iso-cube!
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:48 AM on April 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Or am I a prude, in my dotage, who shouldn't have Metafilter open at work?

I guess part of the answer is: what is the workplace policy on non-work internet activities in general; and in specific, adult content? I think it's kinda like, for anyone who is into goofing off on the clock at work, you should always assume the worst -- that your web activity on company-provided systems is being tracked by someone with a critical eye. I don't think trying to impose a subjective standard of what's OK for any and all workplaces is going to work for MeFi.

I'm boggled by how much time apparently people HAVE at work to monkey around on Metafilter, and that it seems to be Ok with the powers-that-be at work. It's not a criticism -- I'm just surprised. (Probably just the difference between being a consultant vs. being on staff...I'd feel really weird goofing off on the client's dime.)
posted by nacho fries at 11:53 AM on April 25, 2014 [4 favorites]

I was really unhappy imagining myself at work

Wait you weren't even actually at work this was a problem you had picturing yourself at work possibly scanning this and someone seeing the word Orgasm on the screen?

I think I have sufficient evidence to rule in the case of You vs Are You A Prude? as well.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 12:28 PM on April 25, 2014 [10 favorites]

I'm with Axiom...
When I saw your original comment in the thread, I thought--"how is this title NOT clear that it is probably NSFW?"

MeFi and AskMeFi often have explicit text-- whether in describing links, articles, or asking private, private questions. I appreciate when there is sufficient information on the FPP for me to decide whether to click for "more inside." There are posts that are not to my taste or way beyond my boundaries, but I decide whether to proceed.

TLDR; I'm not saying you're a prude--but I am thinking that maybe you "shouldn't have MeFi open at work."
posted by calgirl at 1:02 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Honestly, you should see what the kids have on the other monitor with the ear buds in while they're working. That FPP was NOTHING!

Now get off my lawn.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:06 PM on April 25, 2014

It's kind of a weird, passive-aggressive complaint, to ask for a NSFW warning when the NSFW content is already there to see. The OP's complaint in the thread was basically noise and should have been deleted, if only because the real complaint wasn't the lack of sufficient labeling, but something else — which should have been taken here in the first place.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:16 PM on April 25, 2014 [7 favorites]

item: "It's not like someone posted a picture of an erect penis sliding into a chicken. That would be unacceptable"

Unless you work at Fil-A-Chick
posted by chavenet at 1:49 PM on April 25, 2014 [8 favorites]

Now if it was a rooster they'd have a problem with it.
posted by The Whelk at 2:23 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

( wow I totally dyslexiced that last word and now nothing makes sense, never mind I was never here)
posted by The Whelk at 2:23 PM on April 25, 2014

I don't have any opinions about prudeness or the process of doting, but as a general rule having saucy language on the front page is considered okay, yeah. To the extent that people use NSFW warnings on Metafilter it's primarily for unexpected graphic-as-in-pictorial nudity on the far side of a link; sexually-themed text content is, like curse words, something that will show up in a post now and then and there's no expectation at a policy level that it will be obscured.

All of which is right there in the FAQ.

Shouldn't there be an expectation that people at least bother to read the FAQ before posting to Metatalk?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:45 PM on April 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

I agree that sauciness, in an ideal world, should be below the fold. But I also believe that the word orgasm or penis etc is not very saucy and should be fine. If someone is dropping C-bombs that's one thing.

I, too, was confused by asking for an NSFW tag on something that was really obviously nsfw.
posted by smoke at 3:10 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

I agree that sauciness, in an ideal world, should be below the fold. But I also believe that the word orgasm or penis etc is not very saucy and should be fine. If someone is dropping C-bombs that's one thing.

WTF kind of sauce are you making
posted by shakespeherian at 3:23 PM on April 25, 2014 [11 favorites]

MeFi is, in general, NSFW. As in, you probably won't get any done if you're on MetaFilter*.

*mods excepted

I just had a flash of insight for my procrastination issues. My problem all along has been semantics and economics. I just need to somehow get paid for all the things I find distracting.
posted by SpacemanStix at 3:24 PM on April 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

It doesn't seem confusing to me - the OP is asking for a NSFW tag on the front page, and for the saucy content to be moved to the [more inside], so passers-by reading their screen will be less likely to be affronted if the OP leaves the front page open.

Personally, I think it's simpler for the mods, for the site, and more realistic overall for users to assume Metafilter is inherently NSFW. Caveat lector, peeps.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 3:24 PM on April 25, 2014

You could try working instead of idly surfing the internet.

If you've got time to worry about the work-appropriateness of what's on your screen, you've got time to clean.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:31 PM on April 25, 2014 [13 favorites]

I have a job I love and barely post anymore.

Correlation = causation
posted by shakespeherian at 3:35 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Also you have to drink beer as part of your job.
posted by The Whelk at 3:41 PM on April 25, 2014

whatoiu si that suposned to me
posted by shakespeherian at 3:44 PM on April 25, 2014 [13 favorites]

I don't think this is a Metafilter problem. It has never been billed as front-page-content safe for work site, and I don't think there is anything that should change.
Which means you are going to occasionally get fucks, words describing genitalia, even descriptions why swallowing semen may help prevent miscarriages all above the fold and on the front page for the wide world to read.

If those things will get you in trouble or embarrass you, this may not be a site to read at work. Problem solved.

Which says nothing about whatever level or prude you may or may not be.
posted by edgeways at 4:32 PM on April 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

That's why I restrict my on-the-job MeFi use to the employee restroom.

That's why I spend most of my work day hiding in a bathroom stall.
posted by neuromodulator at 4:52 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Metafilter has gotten me several jobs I consider this a valuable work resource which is why I include it on my taxes
posted by The Whelk at 4:56 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

chesty_a_arthur: "Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to prove this beyond a raisinable doubt.

No need to play devil's apricot."

That's the worst pun in this post to date.
posted by double block and bleed at 5:29 PM on April 25, 2014 [23 favorites]

There goddamn better be some Game Of Thrones fan out there who ships Stannis and Renly and calls them Strenly.
posted by Sara C. at 5:54 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

That's why I spend most of my work day hiding in a bathroom stall.

Your coworkers are probably very worried about the health of your colon. They might suggest, say, prunes.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:58 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

That's the worst pun in this post to date.

Those are some stone fruits you've got to brazenly tack another one right on the end there, you dam son of a bitch.
posted by XMLicious at 7:09 PM on April 25, 2014 [8 favorites]

I'd send you a link but then I'd never live it down for another eight years.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:21 PM on April 25, 2014 [11 favorites]

"Unfortunately, it's almost impossible to prove this beyond a raisinable doubt.

No need to play devil's apricot."

That's the worst pun in this post to date.

So bad that I read it with my mouth agrape.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:54 PM on April 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

Cheeky.
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:02 PM on April 25, 2014

Now if it was a rooster they'd have a problem with it.

So many jokes involving the word "cock."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:30 PM on April 25, 2014

nacho fries: "I'm boggled by how much time apparently people HAVE at work to monkey around on Metafilter, and that it seems to be Ok with the powers-that-be at work. It's not a criticism -- I'm just surprised. (Probably just the difference between being a consultant vs. being on staff...I'd feel really weird goofing off on the client's dime.)"

Lots of people have jobs that require they be present but have only limited actual work to perform. A parking garage attendant for example will have lots of down time during an average shift a few minutes at a time.
posted by Mitheral at 9:51 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

This doesn't cross the line. So its okay.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:30 PM on April 25, 2014

Metafilter: but - sex, naked, sex, plow into, orgasm, and orgasm
posted by telstar at 11:07 PM on April 25, 2014

naked, sex, plow into

You're harvesting all wrong.

orgasm

On preview...
posted by arcticseal at 11:37 PM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

I'm dying of curiosity but am afraid to ask about the shameful thing that happened eight years ago.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:30 AM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

iamkimiam, it was just the first recipe posted on the grey.

Someone, a mod, posted a pictorial recipe for a chicken soup that supposedly is good for eclampsia.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 12:48 AM on April 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

[rethinks FPP about Peter Bonerz]
posted by rhizome at 1:36 AM on April 26, 2014 [3 favorites]

You surf at work, you deserve any grief you get. Unless you're a surfing instructor.
posted by Decani at 5:45 AM on April 26, 2014

Isn't this why the Good Lord created the minimise button?
posted by billiebee at 5:51 AM on April 26, 2014

Instead of FanFare, maybe the truly vital pony is a button or key sequence that flips MetaFilter to a fake Excel spreadsheet. I can remember some Mac games having that back in the 1990s, even.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:00 AM on April 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

Dip Flash: "Instead of FanFare, maybe the truly vital pony is a button or key sequence that flips MetaFilter to a fake Excel spreadsheet. I can remember some Mac games having that back in the 1990s, even."

In Chrome:

1. Open Metafilter tab filled with Teh Bad Wordz
2. Open another tab with a Google Docs spreadsheet filled with Teh Important Work
3. Instantly flip back and forth between them as needed with Control + Shift + Tab

posted by double block and bleed at 6:24 AM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

am afraid to ask about the shameful thing that happened eight years ago.

You can read about it on my profile page. Click on "about the chicken fucking" It's all about a funny thing that got misremembered and amplified.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:49 AM on April 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

Our ten-month-old is wearing one of Morgan's 'CHICK IT OUT' onesies right now!
posted by mintcake! at 7:59 AM on April 26, 2014 [8 favorites]

You surf at work, you deserve any grief you get.

Yeah! It's it's not called Amateur White!

ABC: Always. Be. Closing windows.

But really, this isn't a MetFilter thing, this is a user thing. OP, there are some good suggestions that might work for you.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:19 AM on April 26, 2014 [1 favorite]

jessamyn, I think I speak for each and every mefite - hell, each and every American

Oh shit, another paid shill for the NSA.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:22 AM on April 26, 2014

Um...

Oh, crap, forgot what I was going to write. Oh, well, carry on.
posted by y2karl at 10:09 AM on April 26, 2014

PS. Shouldn't there be an expectation that people at least bother to read the FAQ before posting to Metatalk?

I have never typed this before but.... LOL!!!!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Good one!

[Edit]

It's all about a funny thing that got misremembered and amplified.

Um, I have only typed this once before but.... LOL!!!!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Good one!
posted by y2karl at 10:11 AM on April 26, 2014

Instead of FanFare, maybe the truly vital pony is a button or key sequence that flips MetaFilter to a fake Excel spreadsheet. I can remember some Mac games having that back in the 1990s, even.

FWIW the earliest "boss key" I'm aware of is Friendlyware Arcade from 1983, which was a bunch of real-time arcade game knockoffs for the PC, made using text mode on a CGA adapter (including, perhaps most impressively, a Donkey Kong-alike). I actually have first-hand knowledge of it because my parents bought a copy for our IBM XT about a thousand years ago.
posted by en forme de poire at 7:38 PM on April 26, 2014 [2 favorites]

This explains why today I got a favorite on a comment about not eating the stuffing when celebrating Thanksgiving with Jessamyn.
posted by eyeballkid at 8:09 PM on April 26, 2014 [4 favorites]

Lots of people have jobs that require they be present but have only limited actual work to perform.
Also, some people get to actually take a break every now and again, even while they're at their desk.
posted by dg at 11:35 PM on April 26, 2014

Decrease your zoom level if you think people are reading your screen.
posted by michaelh at 10:18 AM on April 27, 2014

See here. I don't put pictures of my genitals on the web. But if I do, it's for your own personal use, in the safety and comfort of your own cube, and I don't want you showing them around your office.
posted by mule98J at 12:19 PM on April 27, 2014

If you put pictures of your genitals on the web, what you want or do not want people to do with those pictures instantly becomes irrelevant.
I mean, sure, you can try telling people that it's for their own personal use. Just like you can try shouting at a thunderstorm.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:43 PM on April 27, 2014

No need to minimize mule98J's genital pictures. It's not the size that matters, but...
posted by maryr at 4:46 PM on April 27, 2014

BOTH HAVE THE SAME INFINITIVE VERB FORM OF "DOTE"

Totes dotes
posted by zippy at 6:29 PM on April 27, 2014 [4 favorites]