About
Triggers is a term used online to indicate situations and phrases that set people off (known as Triggering). Although initially made popular through the Social Justice blogging sphere, the term gained most of its popularity through ironic usage by mocking groups that use the term over things that are usually considered to be trivial or irrelevant.
Origin
The word originated from the psychological phrase “trauma trigger,”[1] or something that causes a traumatic past event to come back into memory clearly, which are usually known as episodes. The term is known to be related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),[2] a disorder that can develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events, indicated through symptoms such as disturbing recurring flashbacks.
Spread
The phrase became notorious mostly on the social media website Tumblr for over-use and twisting of the original definition in reference to being “triggered” over things that are usually considered to be trivial or common first world problems. In April 2014, Washington resident Melody Hensley (shown below) claimed that cyberbullies on Twitter caused her to get PTSD. The story was subsequently covered by various news outlets, such as the Dailydot,[3] the Daily Mail,[4] Fashion Times[5] and Fox;[6] while Hensley’s claims were mostly met with skepticism.
In the popular online webcomic Homestuck, the character Kankri Vantas[7] often uses the term, which was inspired by Tumblr as confirmed by Homestuck author Andrew Hussie.[8]
Criticism
Triggered has come to be noticed by the internet usually mostly through its intense criticism[9] and the surplus of satire directed at the word. The arguments usually center around whether one can really be triggered online and where the line should be crossed on being offended or medically triggered. In December 2014, 4chan’s /pol/ board was updated to add a scrolling “[Trigger Warning]” text on all post. The addition was meant to sarcastically portray that all post on /pol/ are potentially a “trigger” as the content of the board is usually controversial.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Wikipedia – Trauma Trigger
[3]Dailydot – Misogynist trolls have turned Storify into a harassment tool
[4]The Daily Mail – ‘Twitter gave me PTSD’: Woman claims mean comments and ‘cyberstalking’ gave her an illness usually suffered by WARVETERANS
[5]Fashion Times – Woman Claims Twitter Gave Her PTSD: ‘Mean Comments and Cyberstalking Caused the Disease’
[6]Fox8 – Woman: ‘Twitter Gave Me PTSD’
[7]MS Paint Adventures Wikia – Kankri Vantas
[8]Twitter – @andrewhussie
[9]The Guardian – We’ve gone too far with ‘trigger warnings’