Why Blacklist Channels In Discords Are Harmful

Blacklist Channels. You might know em, you might love em. Let me tell you why you shouldn't.

Blacklist channels are made with the intent to protect the users of a Discord server. It lists people's triggers, things that make them uncomfortable, and even straight up things they don't like. What's wrong with that, you may be thinking. So, so many things is the answer.

Trivializes Triggers
If you are going to make a blacklist channel, it should JUST be about things people are triggered by. Triggers are a serious thing caused by trauma, intensely negative experiences, and mental illnesses. They're not to be messed around with. Putting them on the same level as things you just don't like, or things that just make you uncomfortable.... it's wrong. It's belittling. A topic causing a panic attack in a person is not the same as someone going "ugh, Steven Universe is soooo annoying". This is extremely harmful to people with actual triggers.

The online community for mental health is poor enough as it is - convincing people it's normal to have certain things, romanticizing mental illness, and encouraging the idea that every action and feeling is the symptom of a mental illness. Putting triggers in the same space as dislikes contributes to that. It tells people, specifically younger people, that "hey! This thing I don't like is like a trigger. I am triggered by this thing I don't like, so people shouldn't talk about it around me, and if they do they're bad". This isn't a hypothetical. This is something I've had the misfortune of seeing many times throughout the years. If you encounter a conversation about something you hate in a Discord....move on. Just avoid it. It's better for your mental health, and keeps you from being a prick by dictating what other people talk about just because you don't like it.

Puts Users At Risk
Having a blacklist channel puts people at risk the same way people who list all of their triggers on a carrd or about page on social media does: it gives people exactly what they need to know to hurt you. I understand the appeal. You want to do it so people know what to avoid around you. You do it so good-hearted people are informed. Or hell, you do it because it's fun to talk about yourself and you don't know what else to say. But the internet is full of cruel people. The internet is full of people who are looking to hurt others for no reason. Now you've given them a list of things that'll give you a mental breakdown. And trust me - they will use it.

Trolls, general assholes, and raiders join public discord servers all the time. Discord is not immune from the toxicity of the internet. Now they have access to the triggers of the people in your server. Now they can hurt people not one on one, but en masse. You are giving them the tools they need to harm others.

Plus..... within the past few years internet culture has shifted from "never say anything about yourself, don't even tell people your name" to "tell people everything. They have a right to know about your trauma, your identity, and your experiences" and that is really harmful. There is nothing wrong with telling people about yourself. Nothing at all! But it needs to be with limits. Normalizing this has led to so many kids getting stalked and harmed because of casual social media posting where they gave away too much information. On top of that....no one is entitled to know what you've been through. It is okay to keep your personal issues personal. You don't have to share what you don't want to. It's just not worth it when you can always leave the conversation if something triggers you.

It's Outright Unfeasible
If you want to have a blacklist/triggers channel in your personal discord with a couple of buddies, fine. That's great, in fact! Your close friends SHOULD know what triggers you. They SHOULD know what to avoid for your safety - and you for them as well! But on a public discord? That just doesn't work for sheer numbers and unfamiliarity alone.

Even if a discord only has around 30 people, with 20 of them listing their triggers, that is wayyyy too much for a person to check. People cannot be reasonably asked to go though the list and check for triggers each time they want to say something in a discord. There can be many people in a conversation and it can be far too much to remember. What do you do about people having different conversations in different channels? Do you avoid their triggers too, even if they're not a part of the conversation, just because they're talking? And what about the people not actively participating in the conversation? What about the people reading it? You won't know and can't know. The only way to avoid that is to avoid every single trigger listed in the channel. That is SO difficult to do because there is such a huge variety of triggers! They would have to check every time, multiple times because most people won't remember the entire list on the first reading, just to say anything. That's ridiculous! Especially for a bunch of strangers.

The feelings of strangers do matter, yes. They're real people. But you can't expect someone to remember the triggers of a bunch of different people they don't actually know. People WON'T remember these triggers and a blacklist channel doesn't actually help. All it does is harm people for the previous reasons mentioned, as well as make people innocently talking about something they like feel bad for having harmless fun. People can always leave the conversation. You should look out for the general wellbeing of others and not go out of your way to cause harm, but it is up to THEM to distance themselves for their own safety. They can, and have to, care for themselves in that sense. Wanting everyone else to take responsibility for you is very very unhealthy and will only serve to harm you.

Conclusion
Blacklist channels in public Discords, while well meaning, only succeed in putting members of the discord at risk while contributing to an unhealthy relationship with mental illness and shouldn't be made.