Is Twitter ruining our children?

Old Salt

Old Salt

Senior Member
Location
New Brunswick, Canada!
I read about so many young people losing their self-esteem because they were so viciously attacked by anonymous bullies out to destroy them! Should this platform be restricted to eighteen and above? Should there be a policy that only a person's real name can be used? (I know that's a bit unrealistic)
 

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I think social media is really hard for some young people. The bullying can be bad. I know what a pair or group of bullies can do. Now put them behind a faceless screen and they can really go off the rails.

Add the time kids spend on the internet. I spend too much time and I didn't grow up with this. For younger people, it's all they know. They don't know regular phones, only store or catalog shopping, etc..
 
I don't know about Twitter, but I know I am so glad personal home computers were well in the future when our kids were still kids!
 

I don't know, all forms of entertainment and human interaction have their risks, always have. When I was a kid bullies did fine without social media. Never done Twitter, so I don't know much about it.

What I do know is that older people have always feared new things younger people were doing.

That Time America Outlawed Pinball https://www.history.com/news/that-time-america-outlawed-pinball

"It may be hard to believe, but not too long ago major American cities banned pinball out of fear of the arcade game’s effect on crime, juvenile delinquency and morality."
 
I think you're on the right track about social media, Old Salt, but there are some other apps that kids use a lot more than Twitter.

Tik Tok, made and controlled by China, is a teen favorite along with SnapChat and Instagram. There are more but I hear those are the favorites. Governments are banning Tik Tok for spying and it is said the app collects a lot of data on individuals, as well.
 
It's not twitter, or social media doing the bullying- it's the kids themselves. Bullying on social media for kids is merely the continuation of high school bullying. Social media may make it easier to bully, but by itself is not the cause of the bullying.
It's easier to blame a thing for bad behavior rather than the kids. Remember when the scourge of Saturday morning cartoons was turning us into a nation of "JDs" in the 1950s. A "JD' is 'cop' talk for juvenile delinquent.
 
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I am wondering why you specifically chose Twitter to single out for kids bullying online , @Old Salt ? Twitter is social media, but mainly news, whereas Facebook and Tik-Tok are more of conversational messages and videos.
I only use my Facebook account for following my friends and family, and I use my Twitter account for getting the most up to date news from around the world, since I do not watch television.

As far as bullying, it has gone on since forever, way before people were online, and would still be happening if they were not online. I think that part of it is that we are encouraged to believe that almost everything is offensive to someone nowdays, so kids are offended by little things that just “rolled off of our backs” when we were growing up, but they now believe is offensive bullying and not just teasing each other.
 
Old Salt said:
I read about so many young people losing their self-esteem because they were so viciously attacked by anonymous bullies out to destroy them! Should this platform be restricted to eighteen and above? Should there be a policy that only a person's real name can be used? (I know that's a bit unrealistic)
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I don't use Twitter. I suspect a lot of time is wasted on such things by the young especially.
Of course if using a false name, it becomes only too easy to bully others. It's very sad and destructive.
 
I've just had a Whatsapp chat with my grandson (17). He said that Twitter is definitely not the choice of kids. The most popular are Tiktok and Snapchat with Snapchat being the one most likely to bring out the bullies. I asked if he'd ever had any problem with any social media and he said no as he only has his real life friends on there and never adds anyone he doesn't personally know. Although he really enjoys social media he is also a very sociable person outside of that. He plays football (soccer), goes to the gym, goes walking in the countryside with his mates. He finished the chat by saying that he was going to call in and see me tomorrow on his way back from the gym.
 
Facebook owns whatsapp and instagram ........

most of the apps all work the same way........ and all have potential to be used for either good or bad.

I am actually amazed at how people either do things on social media or try crazy challenges like on Tik Tok with zero common sense
 
Happyflowerlady said:
I am wondering why you specifically chose Twitter to single out for kids bullying online , @Old Salt ? Twitter is social media, but mainly news, whereas Facebook and Tik-Tok are more of conversational messages and videos.
I only use my Facebook account for following my friends and family, and I use my Twitter account for getting the most up to date news from around the world, since I do not watch television.

As far as bullying, it has gone on since forever, way before people were online, and would still be happening if they were not online. I think that part of it is that we are encouraged to believe that almost everything is offensive to someone nowdays, so kids are offended by little things that just “rolled off of our backs” when we were growing up, but they now believe is offensive bullying and not just teasing each other.
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I chose Twitter because our news media singled it out, for some reason. I don't use it personally! All the horror stories about kids self-esteem being destroyed were about Twitter. I know that most kids use Tic-Toc and Snap chat but never heard anything negative about them. In my mind they were all about preening and dancing in front of a camera or handing out recipes!

As to bullying, the Internet with its anonymity allows far more bullying than we ever knew! By young and old alike! I was viciously attacked after 9/11 by people I thought were my friends only because I was Canadian, as if we had anything to do with it. My offense: I had, in the past, unwisely bragged about our Universal Health Care and in the eyes of some Texans I was nothing but an accursed Socialist (Commie) living in a Welfare State! 9/11 brought out the venom and dislike of anything that was "foreign" in some! It hurt because we had always had friendly exchanges. People are not always rational! There is a huge difference between bullying then and bullying now. It almost destroyed my belief in the basic goodness of man!
 
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When Facebook first hit the ‘net, there were numerous problems with kids “pretending” to be a rock star, a surfer or whatever in an attempt to lure young females into their web. But, it went further than that. Girls would also get involved by sending out hate posts and telling the girls who they were trying to humiliate that no one liked them and called them names like slut and whore, etc. Then came the physical fighting in the parking lot after school with someone taking a video and posting it. In some instances, they would be able to get girls to flash them online, so they could take a picture and then threaten to show it online, if they didn’t show more. In some instances, they were able to get the girls to meet them and instead of the person being a 16 year old surfer from California, it may have been a 40 year old man looking for sex or threaten to post the photos, which they would anyway when they were done with their new toy. The girl would be so humiliated, she would go into the bathroom and hang her self. I have a lot if stories, including some that would break your heart.

Back in the day, we didn’t have any laws to protect against those types if crimes. Times since then have changed. There are laws out there now that can get a person a lot of jail time.
 
Myrtle said:
I think you're on the right track about social media, Old Salt, but there are some other apps that kids use a lot more than Twitter.

Tik Tok, made and controlled by China, is a teen favorite along with SnapChat and Instagram. There are more but I hear those are the favorites. Governments are banning Tik Tok for spying and it is said the app collects a lot of data on individuals, as well.
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I stand corrected, Myrtle. Someone else pointed out the same thing to me! Goes to show you that I am not very clued in when it comes to social media. I am simply disturbed about the surge in bullying that the Internet has made possible with its anonymity! It happens too often, and here I thought naively that most people were nice! It's been quite the shock to lose that certainty!
 
911 said:
When Facebook first hit the ‘net, there were numerous problems with kids “pretending” to be a rock star, a surfer or whatever in an attempt to lure young females into their web. But, it went further than that. Girls would also get involved by sending out hate posts and telling the girls who they were trying to humiliate that no one liked them and called them names like slut and whore, etc. Then came the physical fighting in the parking lot after school with someone taking a video and posting it. In some instances, they would be able to get girls to flash them online, so they could take a picture and then threaten to show it online, if they didn’t show more. In some instances, they were able to get the girls to meet them and instead of the person being a 16 year old surfer from California, it may have been a 40 year old man looking for sex or threaten to post the photos, which they would anyway when they were done with their new toy. The girl would be so humiliated, she would go into the bathroom and hang her self. I have a lot if stories, including some that would break your heart.

Back in the day, we didn’t have any laws to protect against those types if crimes. Times since then have changed. There are laws out there now that can get a person a lot of jail time.
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Thank you, 911! That's exactly what I was referring to!
 
Alligatorob said:
I don't know, all forms of entertainment and human interaction have their risks, always have. When I was a kid bullies did fine without social media. Never done Twitter, so I don't know much about it.

What I do know is that older people have always feared new things younger people were doing.
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Sorry that one got away from me! :)
 
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Alligatorob said:
I don't know, all forms of entertainment and human interaction have their risks, always have. When I was a kid bullies did fine without social media. Never done Twitter, so I don't know much about it.

What I do know is that older people have always feared new things younger people were doing.

That Time America Outlawed Pinball https://www.history.com/news/that-time-america-outlawed-pinball

"It may be hard to believe, but not too long ago major American cities banned pinball out of fear of the arcade game’s effect on crime, juvenile delinquency and morality."
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I am not afraid, @Alligatorob! I am disillusioned! There are too many anonymous wolves among us sheep! Attacking my belief in the basic goodness of humanity!
 
If anyone has ever watched the show "catfish" .... the MO has not changed since the beginning back in 2012-2013 over 10 years plus and fake accounts on all facebook, instagram , Tik Tok snapchat etc........

Fake accounts made to con or deceive ...... and often bully.......

The shows host ( independently) can run photo and see many accounts are set up with same or copied photos info ..... and or similar accounts on other apps ......
BUT the companies cannot weed out these fake accounts? Makes one wonder how committed these social media has to monitor bullies or predators ......
oh yes post something voicing an opinion the FB staff does not agree with ............ and warnings or suspend accts ..... but someone playing a game like catfishing or targeting kids all good.
 
To clarify: The Internet brings something out in people that has been there throughout mankind's history! There has always been bullying, there has always been hatred and contempt and bloodshed! Something far worse than the "Internet bullying" we see now.

But since we haven't had any catastrophic wars, like WWI and WWII in our recent past, I naively hoped we were morally advancing! And ended up seeing that the ape still slumbers under our civilized veneer!

This must be the most depressing thing I ever posted! Please convince me that all of you are nice!
 
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Old Salt said:
To clarify: The Internet brings something out in people that has been there throughout mankind's history! There has always been bullying, there has always been hatred and contempt and and bloodshed! Something far worse than the "Internet bullying" we see now.

But since we haven't had any catastrophic wars, like WWI and WWII in our recent past, I naively hoped we were morally advancing! And ended up seeing that the ape still slumbers under our civilized veneer!

This must be the most depressing thing I ever posted! Please convince me that all of you are nice!
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I agree ....... it is depressing and disturbing ......... so many things we do get to see the ugly underbelly until after the fact and the horse is already out of the barn
i see no way for them to regulate now ...... the only thing sites do is say click here to say you are over 18 or whatever....... that is not even a speed bump for kids.
 

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