(meta) Tagging my journal

[stormwreath]

You've probably all seen the new innovation by LJ: a 'voluntary' system of tagging your posts for "adult concepts" or "explicit adult content." This means that those children who are either too dumb or too honest to lie about their age won't be able to see them, and more importantly their parents won't be able to sue you and/or Six Apart for

Comments

[beer_good_foamy]

I'm confused too. If it were all about sex, then I'd get it, but "adult concepts"? What exactly are we supposed to be protecting the little tykes from? Death? Taxes? Getting a job? Responsibilities? References to literary classics, vinyl records and early 80s TV shows? Hairloss? Chainsaws?

[curiouswombat]

I don't think there are all that many under 13s on LJ anyway - but if they are here, but too innocent to lie about their age, they probably should be protected from anything with big words and concepts more difficult than those found in Primary Readers.

Although, of course, they cover sex in school before the age of 11 fairly clearly - so sex should be OK......but not quantum physics.

[beer_good_foamy]

big words and concepts more difficult than those found in Primary Readers.

That's pretty much how I reasoned, too. I've set mine to "adult concepts", for the same reason that I rate most my fic PG13 no matter how non-sexual or non-violent. While I don't doubt that there's a lot of smart 12-year-olds out there, I write the sort of stuff I'd like to read and as cracky as it is sometimes, I still like to think that there's stuff in it that you need a certain reading level to "get". (Not that that necessarily comes with age... but then again, I'm not stopping anyone from lying about their age either. And as far as I understand, as long as my posts are public, all they need to do if they want to read it is log off...)

[stormwreath]

Well, so far some people have ticked my fics with sex in them, and one person has ticked the one with religion in; but nobody's ticked the one with a detailed description of somebody getting critically injured. It's an interesting look at the sort of thing other people define as 'adult concepts'...

(Which is a big reason why I posted the poll; I was interested to see what other people would say.)

[curiouswombat]

Hmm - I don't know all of them - but am now going to have to go and check out those I don't know!

Personally I reckon the easiest option is to just go for a journal setting of 'Adult Content' as I really can't see why 13 year olds would want to read my journal anyway. Maybe I'll get around to it in a month or two. I know this means that people who didn't give their age on their LJ registration will then be asked for it the first time they come to my journal - but once they enter it at that point they will never be asked again, if I understand the update posts OK. So if I wait a while to do it, my friends should mainly have already done this!

There again the chances that anyone is ever likely to flag either your content or mine, and if they do no-one takes any notice unless there are a critical mass of flags for any given entry anyway, do nothing at all should work fine.

[stormwreath]

I'm currently leaning towards putting the 'adult concepts' flag on any text-based descriptions of explicit sex or violence, or pictures of simple nudity. The more restrictive 'explicit' tag I'd only use if I suddenly decided to start posting actual hardcore images in my LJ (which I can't see happening, but just in case) or if I wrote something which even I thought was seriously disturbing rather than just explicit, such as a detailed description of rape or torture. (Again, I can't see me ever wanting to do that, but whatever).

I don't want to flag my entire journal, only because if somebody looks at it while not logged in all my own lj-cuts (including the spoiler warnings) will be covered over and lost. Plus, if a 12-year old is mature and intelligent enough to appreciate my reviews of the Buffy comics, I don't see why I should prevent him/her from reading them. :-)

[curiouswombat]

Yes - I can see why there are advantages to only classifying the odd entry as 'Adult concept'.

I guess maybe half of my fiction entries might need to be 'adult concept' - but should the entry about teaching catheterisation or the picture of the small plush penis? :~)

I might go with just the entries which mention sex in any way more explicit than the lessons my daughter had on the subject by age 11, as I mentioned above. I tend not to do violence much - but to me that might be more 'adult concept' than sex.

Actually, discussing it here on your journal makes me think that it is most likely that I'll do nothing at all until I have a wet Sunday afternoon after Christmas when I will go back and classify the odd entry.

[idiotnighthawk]

I've gotta ask... which one is the 50 foot Dawn/Willow fic?

Adult concepts is probably the right tag.

[moscow_watcher]

Your adult concepts gave me a lot of naughty ideas. Especially Spike learning to drive (in Russian "driving a car" has another, naughty meaning). You definitely should tag them all as inappropriate for children!!! :)

[stormwreath]

If you've read the Spike driving one, you'll remember that Dru does, indeed, get extremely excited at what Spike's doing...
;-)

[frogfarm]

My mom left the Anais Nin fiction out on the shelves in the open, with all the other books. In part cautions -- of course she would be able to see any time it was missing! Even if I was sometimes hesitant to approach her or my dad explicitly about anything, she obviously wasn't afraid of me seeking my own education. Which those stories definitely contributed to, and not just in the sexual realm.

Have I mentioned I love my mom?

[stormwreath]

My parents were more into the non-fiction books - psychology, sociological and historical studies, etc - but yeah, I had a pretty good idea how certain things worked by the time I was about 10 - 11.

I also had some really strange misconceptions as well, mind you. :-)

[skipp_of_ark]

I said you should tag your entire LJ for adult concepts or whatever the term is, but that's only in an ironic sense. Kids are exposed to "adult concepts" every day, whether it's mommy & daddy having to go to work and pay bills or the joke that the American education system has become ('cause kids sure didn't come up with that one *grin*).