A four-letter red flag for Web surfers
Like an "R" rating for Internet sites, "NSFW" is a welcome warning for people surfing at work.
By Jay Cridlin, Times Staff Writer
Published June 23, 2007
At 11:30 a.m. on June 7, Alex Blagg, the managing editor of VH1's Best Week Ever blog, posted a link to a video from the comedy Web site FunnyOrDie.com. Here's what he wrote:
"This fake car dealership ad is BY FAR the funniest thing I've yet to see on Funny or Die. I've watched this about 5 times in a row, laughing more hysterically with each viewing. Do not miss it, but be warned - the language is incredibly NSFW."
Well. With a description like that, how could anyone resist clicking play?
The only problem is those four letters at the end of the link.
Short for "Not Safe For Work, " the letters NSFW are everywhere on the Web. The tag has long served to warn blog or e-mail readers that a link to a photo, video or audio clip might include nudity, violence or foul language, and is therefore not suitable for your cubicle.
The hit Saturday Night Live skit "D--- in a Box" might qualify. So would the latest upskirt photos of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. So would an R-rated Knocked Up trailer, or footage of David Fincher cursing at Lily Tomlin on the set of I Heart Huckabees, or a clip of Kermit the Frog singing Johnny Cash's Hurt.
Like hit movies and TV shows, these tidbits of viral ephemera have emerged as major watercooler discussion topics. Study after study has shown that millions of people cyberslack at their desks; most of the Web's most popular blogs and sites, from Digg to Drudge to Deadspin, are updated throughout the day, when people are ostensibly at work.
So it seems only right to ask: What is and isn't "NSFW" anymore?
"We're not trying to arbitrarily post work-sensitive material, " said Blagg, who oversees the 15 to 17 entries that end up on BestWeekEver.tv each weekday. "We're doing it because it's funny, and we hope the readers take upon themselves the responsibility to know what is and isn't safe for their own offices."
Most companies have policies prohibiting using the Internet to access objectionable material, and it's generally made clear what's considered objectionable. And yes, you can be fired for improper clicking.
"A lot of people think they can do whatever they want on work time, " said e-mail etiquette expert Judith Kallos.
"When you're on company time, you're on company stinking time! It's wacky that people need to be told that."
Douglas Staples, who works in finance at an office in downtown Tampa, occasionally reads news aggregation sites like Fark and Digg at his desk, but he doesn't try to push the NSFW envelope.
"If one of them links to a document and puts 'Not Safe For Work, ' I definitely don't want to click on it, " he said. "We sit in an open floor; it's a trade floor. There's no high cubicle walls to protect you. If you do something like that, everyone will know."
Stacy Martin of Tampa, who works in marketing for a large communications company, said it's not worth the risk, especially if your employer tracks your online behavior during office hours. "I've never purposely pulled up something that had a warning on it, " he said. "There's no reason to get in trouble over something like that."
BestWeekEver.tv, which recently won a People's Choice Webby Award - the online equivalent of an Oscar - for Best Celebrity/Fan Site, is among the mainstream blogs that take the NSFW warning seriously.
Blagg said the blog, which is updated throughout the day with snarky, well-crafted links, photos and videos, can get away with posting jokes and content that the suits at VH1 would never allow on television. But even he knows there are limits to what he's allowed to post during the workday.
"I know that I'm going to be dealing with a lot of video content, and I'm trying to ask myself that simple question: If I was at a regular job, could I play this and not worry about my cubicle neighbor next to me being like, 'What the . . . ?' " Blagg said. "We don't want our readers to get in trouble reading us at work, or else they won't read us anymore."
Jay Cridlin can be reached at jcridlin@sptimes.com.