I was just thinking about how Amazon could best handle this in a way that made all their customers happy.
One natural approach would be to allow logged in users to have a default set of tags which get appended as - to every search. This would allow users who want to avoid GLBT content to do so without using a ham handed approach like they are doing today. Amazon could even offer a pre-grouped set of tags which tend to be associated with GLBT content to let the users who find it offensive exclude it more conveniently if they are a large enough demographic that Amazon finds it in its commercial interest to cater to them.
The tricky part is how to set the defaults for users who haven't made a conscious choice. I don't know have many young children use Amazon's search tools. If that number is a significant percentage, it might argue for defaulting to removing explicit erotica (which is a very different category than GLBT that has some overlap), but it seems difficult to believe that Amazon's interests are best served by reducing the visibility of anything with non-sexual GLBT content by default.
Btw, I'm not including general statements about freedom of speech or about the reasons why GLBT people should be allowed to live their lives undisturbed because those issues aren't involved here. The question is just what is in Amazon's commercial interest and how their customers should respond to their choice.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-04-13 02:42 pm (UTC)One natural approach would be to allow logged in users to have a default set of tags which get appended as - to every search. This would allow users who want to avoid GLBT content to do so without using a ham handed approach like they are doing today. Amazon could even offer a pre-grouped set of tags which tend to be associated with GLBT content to let the users who find it offensive exclude it more conveniently if they are a large enough demographic that Amazon finds it in its commercial interest to cater to them.
The tricky part is how to set the defaults for users who haven't made a conscious choice. I don't know have many young children use Amazon's search tools. If that number is a significant percentage, it might argue for defaulting to removing explicit erotica (which is a very different category than GLBT that has some overlap), but it seems difficult to believe that Amazon's interests are best served by reducing the visibility of anything with non-sexual GLBT content by default.
Btw, I'm not including general statements about freedom of speech or about the reasons why GLBT people should be allowed to live their lives undisturbed because those issues aren't involved here. The question is just what is in Amazon's commercial interest and how their customers should respond to their choice.