So, earlier today, I posted a blog about why people requesting book recommendations add the tag "No Triggers" without elaborating on what might trigger them. A simple and polite enough blog, I thought. How wrong I was!
Firstly, I was completely wrong and had misunderstood the tag entirely. When stating "No Triggers", the requester is not letting me know that they want a recommendation that contains no triggers, but rather the opposite. They are declaring that they personally have no triggers and, therefore, are open to recommendations of any and all kinds of debauched depravity. Silly me! It's so obvious when you have it pointed out to you.
A few kind people did politely point out my misunderstanding, but what was much more depressing was the level of abuse the post also attracted. The trolls were out in force. Some had clearly also misunderstood the tag but took offence that I would judge people's triggers and ask them to be more specific. Others reprimanded me for trying to drum up an argument aimed only at increasing my click rate. My favourite was the person who slammed me for being so judgmental in a post that was, well, judgemental. The irony was clearly lost on them.
I never aim to upset people in anything I do, and a little mortified at both my stupidity and the nastiness of the comments, I deleted my posts and removed the blog. Having reflected, I wish I hadn't. I should have left them all online to demonstrate how angry the internet makes people and let others make up their minds about it all.
Therefore, I am now posting this blog as a way of explanation, and I have restored the original blog before it in my thread so you can also check it out. I really don't think it was bad, just ill-informed. My bad entirely, and I shall be more careful in future. More info on me is available below (for the friendly people).
https://www.richardgodfrayhoare.com/ (WARNING: May contain triggers!)