July 16, 2004

• Because some employers, like mine, encourage us to do so on a limited basis. One past employer wanted each employee to spend ten minutes an hour surfing the web for news stories or checking mail.
• Because I don't have my own office, and people walk through our work area. It's more or less ok for me to be reading CNN or a page full of text, or even be shopping on Amazon, but I don't think my boss would be happy about HOT ANAL SLUTS.COM, even if it was on my lunchbreak. Does this really need to be explained?
• There was that infamous incident on MeFi, when one of the users left a thread about pedophilia (the word was in the title) minimized while she went to lunch. OK, not an external website, but a Metafilter THREAD, and it wasn't open, it was minimized. She was fired when she got back from lunch.
• Oh, get out of my head. I was just wondering this morning "What IS SFW? Is an employer seriously going to say 'You're wasting company time and resources, but it's all tastefully clothed, so keep up the good work!'" I can only guess I'd get fired for reading CNN, because quite frankly I've never said anything. I live in constant fear of getting ratted out, but if I didn't distract myself sometimes, I'd go insane. When it comes to NSFW designations, what this means to me is "This will not ring alarm bells in whatever snooping software your employer has" and/or "This will not attract even more attention than a random open window would."
• See, I've been a part of communities that were considerably larger than Monkeyfilter, and there were basically no safeguards what so ever. You posted a link, you clicked on it, and if it was "bad stuff" that was your own fault for clicking it. I'm just trying to learn about my relatively new home, and who populates it. I wasn't aware there were actually employers that encouraged people to surf the net while at work. Mind you, I've worked mainly jobs where computers were not involved, so perhaps I'm just ignorant in this regard. I was curious as to if NSFW was a code to help people surfing who shouldn't be surfing avoid getting in real trouble, or if it was a broader concept, or if people were allowed to surf on the job or not. I'm trying to view the world from other people's eyes for the next few minutes, so this is all part of that. Like, is NSFW one of those things like the "BOSS KEY" in old Sierra games, that would instantly boot you out of the game into DOS in the days before ALT-TAB? These are the sorts of things I was kind of looking for. Learning.
• Wurwilf, I'm glad I'm not completely alone in being curious about some aspects of this N/SFW stuff. I'd always assumed you weren't supposed to surf at all (for non-work-related things), in most jobs where you had a computer.
• I use it both for at-work (where I'm not supposed to be surfing, but like to share interesting finds with co-workers), as well as for an idea of the content. For example, no matter where I am, I have absolutely no desire to see gore, so a post about war or bombs, etc., with a NSFW attached will make me think twice before clicking.
• Yeah, generally the NSFW designation is just a common courtesy. There's a big difference between Bush gets what he deserves and Bush gets what he deserves (NSFW) In the age of non-descriptive urls, that extra four syllables are essential. Farm Sluts (Brief NSFW imagery in the first ten seconds), while being a comedy, pretty much nails why those warnings go a long way.
• I'd always assumed you weren't supposed to surf at all (for non-work-related things), in most jobs where you had a computer. That's really between the employer and the employee isn't it?
• If your employer doesn't want you using the internet for non-work-related purposes, then everything is NSFW. (including this, so get back to work!!!) Some, however, are more understanding, but still have appropriate use guidelines. This is where NSFW comes in handy. If I'm interested in an NSFW link (and I usually am), I'll check it out when I get home.
• Even if your employer doesn't want you to, the tag is still useful since it helps keep flags from being raised.
• Perhaps a MoFite who works in IT for a firm with an appropriate use policy could chime in here with how NSFW sites might attract unwanted attention for the person who visits them. You know, a "scared straight" lecture for those of us surfing on company time.
• finally!! a benefit to being "self-employed" (read: really poor)
• I work in an office where we're encouraged to use the 'net for research and making contacts, and I'm sure other folks have similar office cultures. But pr0n, violence and such wouldn't be appropriate, so the NSFW tag is quite handy for me.
• The NSFW thing is especially handy when you have filters at work. I'm sure they have lots of reports that they get to look at whenever someone gets redirected to the "STOP LOOKING AT PORN LOSER" message. At my job we even have "Extreme" and "Racist" filters (although they are completely asinine in general). As others have said, often it's not really kosher to be surfing much at all, but if you're going to explicit sites of any variety, you're more likely to get attention than if you're doing regular, run-of-the mill blogging/news reading/shopping.
• Gawrsh! All this time I thought "NSFW" stood for Not Safe For Wendell!
• Or maybe you're simply sitting in a very public space, surfing the web. That's definitely a situation where I appreciate the nsfw label, even if I'm nowhere near my place of work.
• what Kimberly says. My work even filters those pics from GOPBabes. "childish" and "tasteless" are some of my companies Filters. NSFW helps me in avoiding uneccessary drama.
• I have minimal oversight, am super productive, and move very VERY fast when I have to. That said? Personally, I think that whole "I got fired becasue of a pedo thread" metatalk thing was a big ol' stanky pantload.
• You posted a link, you clicked on it, and if it was "bad stuff" that was your own fault for clicking it. The logic here seems bass-ackwards, unless you're in a site known for posting "bad stuff." How is it my fault if I don't know if the material is NSFW? To me the label is broader than just a work warning -- it's a courtesy to members who might not want to see nudity or possibly objectionable content, like a movie rating.
• NSFW = "No Sexpics For Wussies"
• Not Safe For Wendell
• well, my coworkers who can usually see what i'm doing on the computer may not appreciate the whole cameron diaz story as told by fleshbot.
• That, my good gonzo, is why it's important to be able to move very VERY fast when you have to.
• but can't you "sense" when you walk into a room with a computer and the person on the computer straightens up, eyes bulging, and wildly figeting around with the mouse trying to "X" out all the nsfw-type windows. you don't have to see the page to know that whatever was on there wasn't exactly the latest breaking news on cnn.com.
• "Windows key" +D will minimize everything. ahh, it doesn't work so well in Mac and 'nix tho.
• Perhaps a MoFite who works in IT for a firm with an appropriate use policy could chime in here with how NSFW sites might attract unwanted attention for the person who visits them. A former colleague of mine, at a previous employer, got called up before a committee of stodgy old law partners for visiting a site that got flagged by the firm's net nanny for having too much sexually suggestive language on it. Turns out she was buying underwear for herself.
• "NSFW" at my "W" is one of many keywords that gets you picked out for extra scrutiny from the sysadmins and PHBs. I'd be very surprised if that isn't true in a lot of places. While our net-nannies have no problem with people surfing the 'net for work-related reasons, it isn't for personal use. Our bandwidth is limited, and it needs to be reserved for things that are work.
• My step-father works for the government and they had a graphic designer working for them who got put on probation, docked in pay, and nearly fired when he clicked on a link from a search engine looking for photos for his job and it turned out to be porn. He was on the site for no more than the time it took for him to see what it was but they FREAKED OUT. The second time it happened he unplugged his computer and told them right away. If it were me, I'd say, "Fuck all y'all. It's not worth it." Obviously, the NSFW thing doesn't really apply there, it's just an indication of another level of work-place tolerence.
• The point of saying whether something is not suitable for work is too minimise people chances of getting sacked from work. Its not that difficult a concept to understand. It also extends to using public computers in a library - you can get banned for viewing pornography, unsurprisingly. Actually, I used to work in a library, cataloguing books. Using the internet was part of the job, and when I had very little work I could get away with browsing the interent. If my manager walked by (or even a co worker) while I was reading monkeyfilter (not that monkeyfilter existed back then) I'd be fine. If I had goatse.cx on my screen, I would, most probably been sacked. It also (such as mentioning whether something is Quicktime or not, Sacred...) is basically a courtesy to your fellow monkeys. There's no actual need to do it, but its kind of polite.
• "Why aren't you working [while at work], instead of browsing the internet?" This has the most obvious answer evar. Because they're at *work*. They don't actually want to *do* any damn work, they want to slack. But at the same time, they want to *keep* their income, so they don't want to get sacked for looking at harcr0e Pr0n. Simple. Now, tell us your job, and how much you earn per year. I work from home, so I do what the hell I like. And I earn less than anyone. Now send me money.
• You earn more than me, Nostrildamus. I'm not even allowed to sign on for another 3 weeks.
• is this the thread about jerking off in the trees or something? *wanders out, drink in hand*
• Gonzo: Ghostzilla, my friend. Free on the net, just google.
• By hiding under my desk all day, I remain safe from work. Also, this seems somewhat relevant.
• At most places I've worked, some casual surfing was OK. They usually have an "appropriate use policy" that says you're not supposed to look at porn or hate sites or whatever. It was not as if someone was always looking over your shoulder, but in general, your web use was logged and your manager could check out the logs if he/she ever wanted to. Mostly, I think this has to do with sexual harassment and other legal issues. Other employees may be offended or feel it makes the workplace hostile if they happened to walk by and saw XXX images or racist messages on your screen. Someone on MeFi a while back got fired for reading MeFi at work - a supervisor saw some text referring to some child porn scandal or something and she was sacked. That seems like an extreme case, though. I usually use the NSFW tag for anything containing nudity or violent images. Even a Flash cartoon could be verboten in some workplaces, so better safe than sorry.
• "Why aren't you working [while at work], instead of browsing the internet?" I find this attitude repellent. Why would anyone except a boss take the bosses' side in the eternal employer/employee war? "Hey, you there in the cotton field -- quit singing and pick faster -- you're stealing from the Man!" I do my work well and on time, and when I don't have a piece to edit I do whatever the fuck I want, notably surf the internet. And I appreciate polite warnings that a site might cause problems with the gnomes in the basement. SixDW: It would save you some effort if you read the thread before commenting.
• Thank you for your comments, everyone. I was truly being a curious monkey, and I hope nobody took any offense. I'm no great fan of "THE MAN", but I was wondering what everyone thought about the term. I feel like I am now intimately familiar with it. I'd like to think we're all smarter because of this thread. You're all delightful human beings.
• A Toast! To NSFW! *clinque!*
• So, is that a freedom clink?
• More like Colonel Klink.