A video of a young man throwing a cat into the air and it landing on the street went viral on Twitter for its unspeakable violence against a pet animal. Twitter went wild over the filmed animal abuse and sought for “Twitter justice”, a concept where the social media community comes together to use the platform as a way to incarcerate deserving criminals. And it did just that when the cat was found injured with a broken leg. However the high school student who was responsible for hurting the cat has not been located yet. After Twitter rejoiced that the cat was alive, the situation was brought up again concerning its lack of trigger warnings.
Trigger warnings are used to alert the reader and warn them of distressing material ahead. They are placed in order to not trigger unwanted emotions in oblivious readers. Unnecessary distress can cause further trauma for the reader and discredits anyone who lacks the initiative to label possible trigger warnings.
Trigger warnings are used to alert the reader and warn them of distressing material ahead. They are placed in order to not trigger unwanted emotions in oblivious readers. Unnecessary distress can cause further trauma for the reader and discredits anyone who lacks the initiative to label possible trigger warnings.
When I first saw the video on Twitter, I didn’t know about the incoming violence until I saw the student throwing the cat. Typically, I come across clips that are comedic, rather than violent. I was shaken after seeing the video, knowing that I own a pet myself. That video was an explicit reminder of how animal cruelty continues to exist, but in a rather graphic way.
Twitter’s media policy does include posts that are marked as sensitive media. They censor the content and can only be undone if the user chooses to view it anyway. However, it is up to the user posting content whether or not to mark their material as potentially sensitive to some audiences. The user’s media settings can be changed to mark their profile as containing explicit material, but it needs to be frequently practiced.
Trigger warnings need to take into account for those who are watching explicit material. The person posting the video is solely responsible to warn watchers of what the content is. Yes, it is important to raise awareness for animal cruelty that still continues up to this day, but it is also crucial to not hurt others in the process.
Twitter’s media policy does include posts that are marked as sensitive media. They censor the content and can only be undone if the user chooses to view it anyway. However, it is up to the user posting content whether or not to mark their material as potentially sensitive to some audiences. The user’s media settings can be changed to mark their profile as containing explicit material, but it needs to be frequently practiced.
Trigger warnings need to take into account for those who are watching explicit material. The person posting the video is solely responsible to warn watchers of what the content is. Yes, it is important to raise awareness for animal cruelty that still continues up to this day, but it is also crucial to not hurt others in the process.