bekahmccue booksthatburn brittishliterature metalmakubex

Hello everyone. Thank you for all of your feedback!

The reason we have the ability to add content warnings to reviews in the first place is because we wanted to have a feature where you could specify types of content you didn’t want to read about, to varying degrees, and then have the app help you out accordingly: filter out the book completely, show you a warning sign, potentially a traffic light system, etc.

When it came to delivering this feature years ago, we realised that we first needed to start building up our database of content warnings, as there was no reliable resource for this.

We’ve finally got to the point where we feel we can offer a first version of this feature, which is the beta you’re all trying out!

Before we knew how the feature would work/if it would work well, etc., it didn’t make sense to build out a more granular warning system, even though we knew that’s where we wanted to end up. We needed to build a V1.

As a first step, in the interests of safety given there are no granular controls, we decided that if just one person (author or user) mentions a type of content, it is filtered out of recs and the warning symbol is shown.

Given that this first version is popular on the whole, and the feedback points in one direction, it's clear what the next update will be. :-D

bekahmccue booksthatburn brittishliterature metalmakubex

Hello everyone. Thank you for all of your feedback!

The reason we have the ability to add content warnings to reviews in the first place is because we wanted to have a feature where you could specify types of content you didn’t want to read about, to varying degrees, and then have the app help you out accordingly: filter out the book completely, show you a warning sign, potentially a traffic light system, etc.

When it came to delivering this feature years ago, we realised that we first needed to start building up our database of content warnings, as there was no reliable resource for this.

We’ve finally got to the point where we feel we can offer a first version of this feature, which is the beta you’re all trying out!

Before we knew how the feature would work/if it would work well, etc., it didn’t make sense to build out a more granular warning system, even though we knew that’s where we wanted to end up. We needed to build a V1.

As a first step, in the interests of safety given there are no granular controls, we decided that if just one person (author or user) mentions a type of content, it is filtered out of recs and the warning symbol is shown.

Given that this first version is popular on the whole, and the feedback points in one direction, it's clear what the next update will be. :-D

I agree with the others and hope that in the future we can filter the things we don't want to see by severity, but I also wanted to say that this is one of my favorite updates so far. I've already found a few books on my TBR featuring graphic versions of the one thing I always want to avoid in books, and now I know to stay away from them when I didn't before. I don't normally look at trigger warnings for things, because I only have one thing that triggers me and don't want to spoil anything else, so this update is a lifesaver for me. Thank you for adding it, and I'm excited for more granular updates in the future!

Edited to add that my general recommendations now feel more accurate to what I like to read because of this update as well! Thank you for this!

I agree with bekahmccue and booksthatburn . After updating my preferences, nearly every book in my TBR is showing a warning symbol now. And looking into it I was confused because the summaries didn't show any of the things I wanted filtered out (and there were many I just knew did not have that kind of content), but I see now that it's getting triggered when even just one person flags a warning. I would love if I could specify what levels of the content warnings are okay and which aren't, and it would be even better if it was based on the summary of warnings instead of any time a single person flags it. So, for now, I find it better to just check the summaries manually and not add anything to my preferences, because otherwise nearly all my books are getting flagged, and then that defeats the purpose and gets kind of annoying with all the warning symbols everywhere haha.

I like the little triangle! But definitely it's less helpful when one brief mention of the topic gets the same warning as a very graphic depiction. Maybe when specifying which CWs we want filtered out we could specify the lowest level we want filtered?
Like, instead of one big list, there's a spot to list CWs for avoidance where even Minor CWs should be filtered, a separate list for Moderate, and a list where only Graphic CWs should be filtered. That would help, especially if the warning flag is similarly nuanced as a symbol.

Not sure where to put feedback on the beta version? So I'll put it here

I think there should be some way to distinguish between whether a book has only one or a small number of users flagging a particular trigger, and enough people having flagged it to have it appear in the Content Warning summary.

For example, I have "The Secret Garden" in my to-read list, and "Toxic Friendship" in my content warnings filter. The summary doesn't list "Toxic Friendship," but the book still has the little warning triangle because ONE person tagged the book as having it.

Other than that? A+

First beta version of this just shipped!

The reason we have the ability to add content warnings to reviews in the first place is because we wanted to have a feature where you could specify types of content you didn’t want to read about, to varying degrees, and then have the app help you out accordingly: filter out the book completely, show you a warning sign, potentially a traffic light system, etc.

When it came to delivering this feature years ago, we realised that we first needed to start building up our database of content warnings, as there was no reliable resource for this.

We’ve finally got to the point where we feel we can offer a first version of this feature!

Before we knew how the feature would work/if it would work well/how it would be used, etc., it didn’t make sense to build out a more granular warning system, even though we knew that’s where we wanted to end up!

We're looking forward to seeing how this first step goes and working with you to eventually give you more granular options to specify your preferences.

We imagine this feature being in beta for a while!

It would be great if when specifying the content warnings, there would be a "block" option (don't recommend me books tagged with this) and a "warn" option. The warn option would still show me books with that type of content but with a red flag icon indicating it has one of my flagged warning types. The red flag icon would link directly to the content warnings.

@biblioseph — yes, we plan on having a "things you don't like to read about" section in the survey and haven't yet decided whether we will combine that with the content warnings or keep it separate. When we get to it, we'll see what makes sense.

@bekahmccue — one of our ideas is around being able to explain your sensitivity to each type of content! That might not be the first iteration though!

This would be VERY helpful, especially if users can specify the exact level per content warning they'd rather avoid (for example, exempting moderate-to-graphic instances of a content warning, but allowing mild)

Also a possibility in case that coding is too wild and messy because of the individual nature of content warnings: just a blurb like the "People You Follow" blurb for the content warnings you selected to avoid, as a summary. ({Selected Content Warning}; Graphic: x reviewers. Moderate: y reviewers. Mild: z reviewers." And maybe a % of reviews number? Though that might not necessarily be helpful)

Could this also be like the 'content you like to read' except its 'content you don't want'? Because there's something (a specific trope) that doesn't need a warning, but I don't want to read. At the moment I'm just hitting the (x) for 'don't show this book in future recommendations or filtered searches' when I come across it in a blurb.