tagneutrale

Tagneutrale is a term used in information science and digital curation to describe a principle of neutrality in metadata tagging. It refers to the idea that tags attached to resources should avoid loaded language, ideological bias, or evaluative connotations, and should instead aim to reflect the content in a neutral, descriptive way.

Etymology and usage notes: the word appears to be a compound from Scandinavian roots, combining a word for tag or label with a form of neutral. In practice, tagneutrale is discussed in communities concerned with searchability, fairness, and interoperability of metadata, where neutral tagging is seen as a means to improve accessibility for diverse users and reduce unintended bias in automated systems.

Applications and guidelines: implementing tagneutrale involves rules and workflows that promote neutral descriptors, careful selection or curation of tags, and ongoing audits of tagging practices. It often includes avoiding terms that encode judgments, political positions, or cultural assumptions, and favoring categories that describe content, format, topic, or function. In automated tagging, algorithms may be guided to prefer neutral synonyms and to flag emotionally charged or controversial terms for human review.

Examples: a resource about climate science might be tagged with “climate change,” “science,” and “policy,” rather than with labels that imply support or opposition. A dataset tagged with neutral topics aims to remain usable across different communities and recommendation systems.

Limitations and debate: achieving true tag neutrality is challenging because language and context evolve, and cultural biases can influence tag choices. Critics argue that some degree of interpretation is inevitable in tagging, while proponents emphasize the value of consistent, neutral metadata for search and accessibility.

See also: metadata, tagging, taxonomy, controlled vocabulary, bias in AI.