These mickey-mouse rules of what is and is not considered "safe" for work is one of the many, many reasons I don't work in an office anymore. The corporatist hivemind treats the individual worker like a child, incapable of discerning for themselves the difference between nudity and sexual imagery.
I'm including such coworkers, who can't discern the difference between offensive material and journalism--and clamor for rules to be applied to the rest of us--in the "corporate hivemind".
> I'm including such coworkers, who can't discern the difference between offensive material and journalism
What about people who just don't want to spend the mental energy on it? You can think that this is an important story, one that every American has an obligation to see, etc. and still want to save that for a time when you don't need to focus on your job.
I'd also remind you that not everyone is completely detached from these things. I've worked with Vietnamese immigrants, American veterans, and many people have family members who have birth defects which are similar to some of those pictures even if they weren't caused by Agent Orange. I certainly would hesitate to show any of them something like this without advanced warning.
I fail to see what any of this has to do with my usage, or why rules should be made out of it. The most rule you need is "get your work done or you're fired."
The point of "not safe for work" is for what other people will see on your screen.
And it's not their failing if such important depressing things distract them from getting their work done. It doesn't have to be offensive to be a bad idea to share with people that are trying to be productive.
Oh, I think I see your point better now, and I agree with that. But I was focusing on the horrifying deformities as something that can legitimately be a problem in a workplace, not incidental nudity.
but you are assuming that everyone has the same sensibility.
It's like swearing. By culture, I'm inclined to swear when something goes bad (i.e. hard to find bug), but I know some people don't like it, so I try not to do it around them, or around people whom I don't know well enough.
It's common courtesy, even if there is noone clamoring for it.
