Do Not Interact

Do Not Interact, abbreviated DNI, is a statement or image banner that states the poster does not want specific people to interact with the post (or them). Those who create DNIs expect the subject of their DNI statements to not follow/subscribe/watch them. DNIs may appear on individual posts or in headers and social media profiles. Some users also have a DNI list, which may either be on a special page--such as a link in their Tumblr sidebar to a custom page--or linked off-site--such as to a Carrd website. DNI banners are more common on Tumblr than Twitter, and on-site DNI lists are more common on Tumblr due to Twitter's post limit. Twitter users making DNI lists opt to use off-site web hosting. Common things to include in a DNI: bigots, certain shippers, certain character stans, certain otherkin people, minor attracted persons, kink accounts, certain antis, minors, and more. 
DNI lists can be much more extensive and detailed in describing the characteristics they do not wish to see/interact with in their social media experience, as it is not character-limited like a profile/header, nor distracting from the main point of the post (like an addendum to a post would be). DNIs on individual posts may be added to the post's body or may be part of the tags. 
The opposite of a Do Not Interact is a Please Interact, which are usually made as a joke. Some Do Not Interact posts are jokes or satire as well, such as a Transformers Bayverse DNI banner stating "Michael Bay Do Not Interact."Michael Bay Don't Interact, Jun 6, 2018 (Accessed 1/27/2021) Other types of statements that function the same way as a DNI include Do Not Follow (DNF) and Before You Follow (BYF).
==History==
While the term "Do Not Interact" is a relatively new one, the request is not. One early example is the 2000 request by an X-Files fan stated in Couple of Sheepskins.
Do Not Interact banners may have been influenced by userbox banners, which are wiki-styled banners using the format "this user (statement)," for example: "This user likes userboxes."user-boxer, Tumblr. (Accessed 1/19/2021) According to Know Your Meme, the DNI banner emerged in 2016, and one of the earliest iterations of it were "do not reblog if..." banners made by a Tumblr user named CandyDoggo in Oct 2016. Later in November, a user by the name Maisy-Mouse made the first known banners using the do not interact phrasing.Do Not Interact, Know Your Meme (Accessed 1/19/2021) 
The earliest known use of #BYF on Tumblr is April 29, 2013, in an "About Me/Before You Follow" post by retroelf.About Me, Apr 29, 2013, Wayback capture on Mar 29, 2021 It is typical of the later DNI/BYF posts and pages to request non-interaction from certain demographics (age, sexuality labels, etc.) followed by a list of unwanted characteristics of followers (very young, anti-feminist, homophobic, right-wing politics, etc.).
As the popularity of DNIs grew so did pushback against them (see Discussion and Criticism) and so did jokes and parodies of them (see Parodies and Jokes).
==Use in Gaming==
In 2019, Olivia Hill and Filamina Young released "iHunt," a Fate (RPG) game, with a "No Fascists" warning, which is commonly called the "Olivia Hill Rule."No Fascists at RPG museum, link accessed Mar 31, 2021 This warning, or an adapted version of it, has since been included in several tabletop RPGs at itch.io, including some that are offered for free under Creative Commons licenses. The rule can't be enforced, but it serves as a "DNI" statement.
Other games with the rule include:
*Divinity Fall by Catscratcher ("[F]ascists are not allowed. Racists, sexists, homophobes, transphobes, or people who subscribe to any other sort of bigotry or injustice against minorities: you’re not welcome here, and we don’t want you playing any of our games.")
* Familiar Unfamiliar by Peach Garden Games ("If you're homophobic, racist, sexist, transphobic, ableist, or in any other way opposed to the fundamental humanity of someone else, please feel free to leave.")
*Victor's GM-less Oracle by CurseNightGames ("Moral Rights (The Olivia Hill Rule): You may not use, share, or adapt this material if you are a fascist, racist, sexist, homophobe, transphobe, or other bigot or reactionary.")
*Goblinauts by BasiliskOnline copies the original iHunt text
*The FireJam game event (similar to a fic challenge) recommended that games include it.
==Use on AO3==
DNI tags began appearing on fics posted at AO3 as early as 2019For example, see the "pedos and fujoshis dni" tag on a My Hero Academia fanfic, , 27 May 2019. (Accessed 24 October 2022.)Another example: "RemRom shippers DNI" on a Sanders Sides fanfic, , 11 July 2019. (Accessed 24 October 2022.) as part of fannish cultural shifts. Some early DNI tags were popular in Minecraft fandom: SHIPPERS DNI was first used in September 2020, Antis DNI in November 2020, and poppytwt dni in July 2021. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fandom, the Tcest DNI tag was started in June 2020 and synned to the canonical tag No Turtlecest (TMNT). The Proshippers dni tag started in January 2021 with a Cookie Run fic, but saw an increase in use in early 2022 in a variety of fandoms. Minors DNI seems to have been in use as early as 2019. In the Genshin Impact fandom, KAELUC SHIPPERS DNI was used for the first time on April 23, 2021. Kaeluc is a controversial ship; although Kaeya and Diluc are not biological brothers, many fans see them as family. The tag is mostly used in fanfics that focus on Kaeya & Diluc gen relationship. It also has some use in clashing ship stories like Diluc/Childe or Kaeya/Albedo. Although more rarely, it has also been used in Kaeluc dead dove fanfics, to warn shippers that perhaps the content of that story is not what they are looking for. There is also a RemRom shippers DNI tag in the Sanders Sides fandom first used in July 2019. 
Compliance with DNI tags is not part of traditional Ao3 culture, as it is on the sites such as Tumblr and (to some extent) Twitter, which can lead to tension. Compliance is also not enforceable on AO3, and some DNI tags have been reported to the abuse team for harassment, though a simple "DNI" tag isn't a terms of service violation unless it also contains a threat or other targeted harassment., fail_fandomanon thread, 2022-02-25., 24 Sep 2022.
==Common DNI Topics==
Many DNIs include several of these, often phrased as "DNI if you are..." or "DNI: (label)."
* Homophobic/Anti-LGBT/Anti-MOGAI
* Racist
* Ableist
* Sexist/Misogynist
* TERF/SWERF
* Ace-Exclusionist
* Ace-Inclusionist
* Truscum/Transmed/Tucute
* Anti-Truscum
* Anti-shipper
* Pro-shipper
* Pedophile
* NOMAP
* Underage shipper
* Incest shipper
* Anti-SJW
* Anti-kin
* (prefix)kin (e.g. DNI Factkin)
* Hate speech
* Nazi 
* A minor
* Over 30
* CisHet
* NSFW blog
* Various fandom-specific criteria, like "Bakugou Apologist" or "Anakin/Amidala Shipper"
* littles/DDLG
* Anti-Littles/DDLG
* Syscourse
* Mspec lesbian/gay
* Anti-mspec lesbian/gay
* Anti-he/they lesbian
* Anti-neopronouns
Some are so common, that many blogs have a note that starts with something like, "DNI: - basic dni criteria (racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc)," leaving the reader to figure out what "etc." should encompass.
==Discussion and Criticism==
DNIs are somewhat similar to the concept of don't like don't read, and dead dove do not eat, where the content one consumes is considered to be the responsibility of the consumer, not the person making the content. For example, if a user has "DNI if you like Homestuck," then it is assumed the user may have anti-Homestuck material on their blog and anyone who doesn't want to see that should avoid them. If someone viewed such a blog, saw anti-Homestuck material, and then became upset, then the blog host may point them towards their clearly outlined DNI stating that they did not like Homestuck, or whatever other material may have been on their DNI list.
===From dnibyf===
One prominent source of meta discussion and criticism of DNIs is from a Tumblr blog specifically created for anti-DNI posting, called dnibyf. This blog centers around pasting screenshots of DNI content and criticizing them. Some of these critiques are listed below.
*dnibyf critiqued the vagueness of some DNIs, such as DNIs that include generalized statements. For example, "DNI if you have a discourse centric blog" could encompass any user who owned a discourse sideblog or just someone who engages in discourse.Ugh, just another one of those weird technical gripes of DNIs, Tumblr. Dec 2020 (Accessed 1/24/2021) Another example given is the common "usual criteria" included in some DNIs, which dnibyf viewed as too general for interpretation.Excuse me what, Tumblr. Oct 2020 (Accessed 1/24/2021)
*Criticisms of comparing different subjects together which some may not view as equal, such as listing fandoms next to discrimination or sexual assault/harassment of minors. For example, listing transphobia, minor-attracted persons, and homophobia beside the webtoon Hazbin Hotel.“stan hazbin hotel”, Tumblr. Oct 2020 (Accessed 1/24/2021)
*Whether or not DNIs are even useful at all, particularly DNIs that include "porn bots" or "spam blogs" as criteria, because bots do not have the capability to read DNIs or adhere to them.wow, have we found THE “usual DNI” page?, Tumblr. Jul, 2020 (Accessed 1/24/2021) Or, if a spam blog was being run by a real person, whether or not a user engaging in spam would care to be respectful of a DNI at all.
* Whether DNIs are useful to blogs when the scope of the blog is different from the criteria in their DNI. For example, whether an "aesthetic blog" would ever even come into contact with certain subjects on their DNI, such as fandoms or NSFW content. dnibyf said of this: "I don’t really understand “don’t follow if you’re a NSFW blog” because you’re not following them…you won’t see their posts."I don’t really understand “don’t follow if you’re a NSFW blog” Jul 2020. (Accessed 1/24/2021)
Dnibyf theorized that the true purpose of a DNI is not to ward off certain demographics, but as performative morality (the concept that people pretend to be more "socially aware" than they really are for the sake of appearances or "clout") to show others online what they do and do not support. For example, someone with "DNI if you're an anti" would imply that the user was a pro-shipper, and "DNI if you're a MAP" would imply the user is against pedophiles.
Another quote from dnibyf is below.
Conversely, another user has countered some parts of dnibyf's criticisms of DNI posts. They stated that the idea that DNIs exist only performatively is incorrect. They also countered the criticism of "general" DNIs, such as DNIs that simply say "DNI if the usual criteria" or similar phrasings. They stated that the "usual criteria" is "obvious" because the "usual criteria" would include the criteria most often listed on DNIs, such as pedophilia/MAPs, incest, racists, nazis, homophobes, transphobes, etc, and that anyone criticizing the use of "general criteria" is nitpicking on purpose or pretending to not know what it means.Verbal primary source, 1/27/2021. (Cited 1/28/2021)
Some users may also disagree with dnibyf and take their criticism with a grain of salt, as some may interpret some of their criticisms as being in support of incest shipping.“Support incest” definitely refers to shipping, no way it doesn’t. Tumblr. Aug 2020. (Accessed 1/27/2021)I thought “being ok with incest” Tumblr. Jun 2020 (Accessed 1/27/2021)
===From Elsewhere===
Fansplaining devoted their 148th episode to the subject of DNIs. 
Criticisms of DNIs often focus in on impracticalities related to age. Consider this Tumblr post from thunderpibb:
On Reddit a screenshot of Tumblr user surprisedentistry joking about DNIs was shared in a thread in order to discuss DNIs.DNIs and Tumblr, Reddit. Feb 27, 2021 (Archived 1/12/2023) Quotes from the comment section are included below.
Tumblr user veliseraptor received an anonymous ask asking "Wait, what's wrong with dni's?" They replied with a short meta piece criticizing DNIs. Veliseraptor argued that ignoring a DNI to reblog someone's blog post does not automatically "contaminate you by proximity." The full response is included below.
===More Links===
* , tumblr post by txttletale from December 2022; followup discussion by blatant-nepotism and hearties-circus
==Examples==
===DNI Banners===
* (2017)
* (2017)
* (2018)
*, a tumblr blog collecting DNI banners
=== DNI Lists===
* (2020)
* that includes furries (2018)
* including Fontcest (Sans/Papyrus), adult monsters/Chara, and other Undertale ships
* stating "do not follow if you like" with a list that includes Attack on Titan, South Park, Steven Universe, Homestuck, and several others
===Tagged with DNI===
*- Half-Life art tagged with "fat kink people do not interact"
* with "Gatekeeper fans do not interact," in reference to an unnamed gatekeeper NPC from Fire Emblem Three Houses
* with "ren or ugetsu antis do not interact," in reference to manga characters
===Parodies and Jokes===
*, by slimetony, 2016
* by toskarin, 2022
*, by olympians, 2021 -- a version of Lizzy and Darcy's first conversation from Pride and Prejudice rephrased in terms of DNIs and other Tumblr jargon.
* by mag22, 2023
==Further Reading==
* criticizing DNI posts that focus on kink art
*, 2022, speculating about the usage of DNIs in the context of/comparison to older privacy norms on personal blogs and old school forums.
==References==
Category:2023 Featured Articles