Fourth Post!

[hoisinsauce]

btw feel free to suggest/nominate post titles

Post about fandom! Or whatever! Whether it's a rave about some obscure series, or an essay dissecting every last reason why some internet-famous author should rethink their career, someone will probably read it at some point! We also just chat about life.

(start a comment thread by replying to this post)

Comments

Re: Random Internet Things

[(Anonymous)]

I understand why GC resources meant for parents emphasize getting their kids offline, but I often feel baffled about how these resources talk about online friends. For example, from this link https://www.transgendertrend.com/school-lgbt-club/

When a child sits in their bedroom alone with their phone, they are in fact sitting in their bedroom with complete strangers they have met online. This cannot be right.

I spent my early teenage years yakking it up with total strangers on the internet because I had trouble making friends at school. I remember those years very fondly, although I haven't remained in touch with anyone (and in fact never learned their legal names or met up with them in person). The main social contagion was that Tolkien was worth reading.

Re: Random Internet Things

[(Anonymous)]

I admire a lot of the work tgt do but they often screw up the balance between reporting and pearl-clutching. I find it quite endearing. :P

Re: Random Internet Things

[(Anonymous)]

Sa

But yeah gc articles often suggest they are written by non-geeks who don't get how geeks work and frown at anything that isn't their own preferred way of doing things. Tbf geeks don't always get that the online landscape has changed since they were teens, either. My closest friendships were online as a teen bc for some reason there weren't a lot of people like me nearby and it's easier to meet people I click with over a wider geographical net. Prolly bc being on the internet involves searching by interest.

Re: Random Internet Things

[(Anonymous)]

I grew up on the internet and I met a bunch of cool older folks who really inspired me, but the only friends who've really stuck with me through thick and thin have been the ones I know in real life and I certainly ran into a lot of bad actors. Looking back, the only thing that kept me out of trouble was the fact that I was literally too stupid to be groomed, because god knows a lot of guys sure tried.

These days, most of my real-life friends have moved away and most of my socialization once again comes via the internet. Feels like something's missing, honestly - like eating a meal without a main course. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't think it's wrong to have online friends and they're certainly better than having no friends at all, I'm starting to understand why my parents always told me I need to get off the internet and make friends in the real world.

Re: Random Internet Things

[(Anonymous)]

> Looking back, the only thing that kept me out of trouble was the fact that I was literally too stupid to be groomed, because god knows a lot of guys sure tried.

Oh, this kinda happened to me. I look back on interactions and I'm like "oh, that was a paedo, wasn't it?", but flirting always goes over my head so I think I accidentally deflected a bunch.