without a tighter breathing...

Is this really one of those things we want to use Internet cuteification shorthand on?

Over the last few months, I’ve noticed “TW” being used as shorthand for “trigger warning” a lot. I’m wondering why on earth is that? and where did this come from? But mostly, why has it taken off?

Is a trigger warning really something you want ambiguity around? Is it something you really want to use community shorthand for, like it’s something you have to get in with the right spaces and the right people to comprehend? I mean, when I first started reading social justice blogs and saw the term “trigger warning,” I didn’t know exactly what it meant but it was reasonably evident that it was a warning that upsetting reactions could be triggered by the content below. But in just using “TW,” a lot of people unfamiliar with the term are going to sail right on by those two little letters and get triggered.

I don’t mean to say that trigger warnings are perfect or that they necessarily warn for the sorts of things that are going to trigger anyone or anything like that. I mean that this cuteified shortening renders trigger warnings in a way I find really offputting, and a lot of people are going to find not even useless, but harmful.