What is going to happen if someone asks a

practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face

based on an industry which is not necessarily the most... appropriate?

Say for example, someone had a question on the porn industry. It seems you could construct quite a few questions well within the FAQ requirements which would seem quite absurd, yet, seemingly valid.

Regardless, this might be a conversation which is good to have before any such questions appear.

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I think it would be helpful to have a meta post covering NSFW stuff for WP. Or maybe there's already authoritative reference applicable to all SE network –  gnat Nov 24 '12 at 18:37
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Here's a Programmers Meta post about the topic –  Rarity Nov 24 '12 at 19:47
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@Rarity The question that sparked that Meta discussion was... less than stellar. Nothing terribly offensive about it, but nothing of value was lost when it was deleted. –  Yannis Nov 24 '12 at 20:35
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3 Answers

On topic questions are welcome, regardless of the industry. If the question is not about something illegal and follows our normal guidelines, I don't see why we shouldn't welcome it. That includes the porn industry, it's a workplace after all, and we can't really dictate topicality based on personal sensitivities.

This site strives to be a canonical resource for workplace issues, and excluding certain industries, whichever those industries might be, is antithetical to that purpose.

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I agree. To my mind, like everything here, a question involving a workplace that happened to be a film studio that creates porn (as an example), could be just as on topic, off topic, too localized, not constructive, perfectly worded, or a question best handled by a lawyer, entirely independent of the industry in which the work takes place. –  jcmeloni Nov 24 '12 at 22:31
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"we can't really dictate topicality based on personal sensitivities" - I wish more people thought like you. Sadly, they don't. –  Dreen Dec 4 '12 at 17:56
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I'd like to think that if dealing with an industry with ... legal adult content by most cultural definitions - we'd be able to encourage tact and moderation, but wouldn't close and delete immediately. I see is as basically a more urgent and potentially loaded need for keeping too many technical details fairly generalized. Admittedly, when talking about porn, the need to jump in quickly may be a bit more urgent than someone getting too eloquent about the variations between a career in develoment vs. quality assurance. :)

But I wouldn't want to get into a situation where we say no to a whole industry provided it's legal in the location in question, and can be asked in such a way that technical details are omitted. I see most of the terrifying salacious questions of the porn industry as being similar to many of the other "too specific" questions that we either close or massively generalize today.

I'll also add - that offline I have some friends in adult industries. I've actually learned a lot from them about how to stay professional, even in very... odd circumstances. And that every workplace has rules that help people working in the environment manage tricky situations with a bit more grace.

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If this is to be an site that is international and pan-industry then it is important to note that different countries -and industries - have different attitudes, cultures and laws that impact on them.

Over-localisation of moderation of questions will discourage others from posting, as will providing negative feedback/comments to posters based on a single cultural or industry perspective.

The "workplace slap" issue is a case in point - in some industries being drunk on site is a sacking offence, and as one preson commented, in advertising its just a Friday afternoon. To go further, in some countries, simply being drunk anywhere or kissing someone that is not you married partner will result in criminal prosecution, as recent cases in Dubai have shown.

I understood this site to be about supporting people with their workplace issues - which to me means seeking to understand their environment and context before passing judegment.

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