Report Blog Entry
I've noticed lots of minors on here who don't seem to know basic internet safety. So here's some advice -
Don't give out your age to strange adults online. A lot of us are nice, normal people, but telling adults you're a minor and not to creep on you isn't going to deter the creeps. It's going to attract them. They won't bother with ageless or adult accounts, that's not what they're after. You don't have to give out an age at all, if you feel uncomfortable lying about being an adult. And if somebody is weird to you anyways? Block them.
You can be friends with people not in the same age range as you. It doesn't work the same as being friends with people your age, but it's still a rewarding experience. It's sensible to be wary of creeps online, even adults have to be, but the people you meet on here are statistically the least likely to creep on you - an adult you already know irl is more likely. This is not to say don't be cautious, or that you're wrong to draw boundaries based on experiences, but consider why you've got an 'acceptable' age range online but not irl.
Your mental illnesses, trauma, or medical conditions,
should you have them, are your own business. You are not required to
talk about them at all, or to give extensive detail about them. It's not
like you have to pretend they don't exist, but you are under no
obligation to put them in your bio, carrd, or anything like that. If
somebody tries to tell you otherwise, RUN. They are not your friend.
You're under no obligation to maintain an explicit cross-site presence. You don't need a brand if you're not making money. Delete that carrd. Remove some of those links. If you want your friends to know who you are, tell them - privately. Try not to have an internet identity. You're a person, not a product.
And last, you don't have to give out your full name, or even just your first name, to the public or even to your online friends. In fact, I'd generally advise the opposite.
Comments
Displaying 3 of 3 comments ( View all | Add Comment )
DE Navarro
As a 60 year old man well aware of the dangers of the Internet and of the creeps of every age that lurk in cyberspace, I can say this is excellent advice and should be heeded.
I would say that everyone should develop the ability to detect when someone is being REAL. Some can fake this, that's why they are called "cons", they are very "con"vincing.
But the better you get at knowing if someone is coming at you in a genuine and real way the better you will be able to "flag" potential creeps and avoid them.
Well written, thanks for sharing.
jing yi
aww this is actually quite sweet. honestly i do a lot of things opposite of what u recommend here but then again i dont use this site much other than to talk to a few select ppl. most ppl who fq never dm from my experience so i rlly dont mind that. i rarely rlly use other social media. just youtube n discord (i alrdy committed to the friends i have on there). its pretty damn peaceful!
Red Monaca
You are doing SpaceHey a great service by posting this. I hope that the minors in this site read this.