Trigger warnings and tone tags are two Just Marketing® tools that make your content more equitable and inclusive.
Trigger warnings precede your content and serve to warn and inform people about the topics you’re going to explore, and tone tags are added to the end of dialog when deemed appropriate to clarify the tone that was intended by the writer.
What are Trigger Warnings? The Backstory
When I think about trigger warnings, my first thought goes to veterans of wars who deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). People with PTSD can be triggered by visual cues – like watching a movie that reminds them of war, or audio cues – like a big bang that reminds them of gunfire or bombings.
But it’s not just war vets or those with PTSD who benefit from trigger warnings… people who have all sorts of trauma can benefit, as well as people with phobias and people who experience panic attacks.
Many topics have the potential to bring back bad memories or trigger negative emotions.
This is why Trigger Warnings exist.
[Also known as Content Warnings -\— and may be abbreviated as “TW” or “CW”.)
With trigger warnings, content creators can communicate that the content they are about to show could be harmful to specific groups of their audience. This way, they give such sections of their audience a choice on whether they should consume the content or not.
You may have seen something along the lines of “viewer discretion is advised” before a television broadcast — that’s an example of a trigger warning.
Most commonly though, a content creator will start a post (email, or blog) with “trigger warning,” “content warning” or the abbreviations “TW” or “CW” followed by the topic that the post covers.
Topics that could be triggering:
- Suicide
- Mental health
- Child loss
- Sexual assault
- Violence
- Death
- Misogyny
- Racism
- Transphobia
- Discrimination
- Offensive/derogatory language
- Etc. (anything that could be triggering to anyone)
Looking at this list, you may wonder how often things like this will come up in the marketing of your business, and you may be right that they never (or rarely) do. But, part of being a Just Marketer is knowing what to do just in case… and your value of justice may also reflect over into your personal life as well, where these topics are more likely to come up.
For many of us, myself included, the line between personal and business is blurry. There is a lot of overlap whether you’re an entrepreneur or work with a company. So being as just as possible in personal channels and content as in my business/marketing content is very important. Having this consistency begins to shape the way you communicate and helps you be part of the movement to make marketing equitable for all.
Now let’s talk about tone tags.
Tone is how you sound when you say something. The importance of tone cannot be overemphasized because you could say something as a joke, and repeat it with a serious tone which would change the phrase to mean two totally different things. Even more, it would have two totally different effects on who you are talking to.
It can be difficult to understand tone from written text (usually, I default to using emojis) to express my tone, but there is a tool you can use to clarify your message and cut down on potential miscommunication — TONE TAGS.
Tone tags, also called tone indicators, are elements you can add to content to communicate your intended tone. They start with a backslash and typically have a sequence of letters that follow, like /s or /sarc for sarcastic … /j for joking …
They are a helpful tool to ensure you’re connecting with your audience in a way that everyone can understand.
My neurodivergent kiddo is actually the one who taught me about Tone Tags… they enjoy being on TikTok and use tone tags to help them understand the meaning behind messaging, as well as what to expect when they click on links. They become very upset and frustrated when people inevitably abuse the use of tone tags — marking things as “safe” and not disclosing a jump scare, for example.
Why should you use tone tags?
With physical or audio communication, you can rely on things like body language, facial expressions, and voice inflection to deduce the tone of communication. But you cannot do that with written text.
Using tone tags will help your audience clearly understand what you are saying and leave no room for misunderstanding.
And communicating the nature of your content promotes the trust that your audience has in you and your content.
When & where should you use tone tags?
Now that you know why, let’s talk about when and where you should use tone tags in your content — and where not to use them.
Tone tags can be used pretty much anywhere in your content to clarify a message. It’s best to include it as part of your original post because if you comment with the tag(s) underneath, not everyone will see it. That's the ‘where’.
As for the ‘when’, they are appropriate to use anytime you consider the tone of the subject matter important or potentially confusing.
You’re likely to find some tone tags that you use more often than others, and some you’ll never use at all.
The most important thing is to use the tags that feel right to you and for your situation, and to respect how others use tone tags.
Join the movement
Audiences should be able to choose whether or not to consume content, especially when they could be triggered by such content. This is why it’s important to use Trigger Warnings anytime we explore a sensitive subject.
It’s also important that all members of our audience can equitably access our content, and that includes understanding the tone which we intend the content to be read.
Tone tags and Trigger Warnings are two tools that Just Marketers should be aware of and prepared to use to make marketing more inclusive and accessible to everybody.
Ensure that the next piece of content you put out into the digital world is just with the Just Marketing® Checklist: download it here!
