HeyMichelle Speaks

Words in bold are hers:

HeyMichelle
Etsy Admin
HeyMichelle says:
Hmmm, this is a question I've been pondering over all day. I think it's a definition that we will have to hone to be right for the Etsy market. There are many precedents set by other companies though as to how to handle mature content - ebay, google, and flickr come to mind.

My impression- I feel that there should be a way for the average person to browse Etsy freely with their child on their lap, and for the average conservative or middle of the road person to easily avoid content they don't want to see. Yes, there are always extremes on either side, but I'm thinking about the middle, say, 80-90% of people or so.

For example, if Etsy is featured on a show like Good Morning America (as we were recently), will there be a good number of new visitors who might not leave and not come back if the content is displayed prominently?

The Dos and Don'ts uses the term "general audiences" as well:

Etsy aims to maintain a marketplace appropriate for general audiences, therefore the use of mature content must comply with the following policies. Mature content is defined as: visual depiction of male or female genitalia, sexual activity or content, profane language or graphic violence. Mature content listings will remain in all Etsy searches by default; users can restrict results by using the exclusionary search term "NOT mature" ("opt-out" search status).

* Item listings containing mature content must be tagged with "mature" and include the word "mature" in the item title.
* Mature content and/or profane language or images are not allowed in your username, Public Profile, item titles, tags, avatar, banner, Shop Announcement and/or shop section titles.
* The first thumbnail image in your item listing should be kept appropriate for general audiences; additional images in the listing may show the item in its entirety. Mature content and/or profane language or images are only allowed in the second, third, fourth and fifth photos of an item listing and the description text of a listing.
* Pornography is prohibited on Etsy.

Is etsy shifting audiences with its popularity? Although this does not *personally* affect me[despite the depictions of plant genitalia in my jewelry, they are all work safe], I'm still thinking about what to think on this issue.