Post #481147

2026-02-23 04:02 UTC

I don’t agree. I started using the web as a curious 8 years old. I was pretending to be an adult in order to sign up to forums, chat with people, etc. Yes, I was exposed to porn, gore (remember goatse?) but that didn’t make me dumb or a molester. But nothing beats what I learned thanks to the internet. Endless days spent on programming forums, reading articles on a newborn Wikipedia, etc. Even just talking with older people than me made me learn how to deal with things and life. I don’t think that the internet for a kid is bad per se. I wouldn’t like a blanket ban for kids like the UK. If it was like that when I was a kid, I would probably be a more stupid person. I think that the real bad thing is the stupid phones and apps that give you dopamine rushes.

Replies (3)

@fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 2026-02-23 04:35

Corpocrap scrolley apps exploit you on purpose, but that doesn’t generalize. Not.that non techy people understand that

Open ##481816
@AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 2026-02-23 05:15

I hate to say this, but the Internet is not the same as it was back when I was growing up. You always had the possibility of stumbling across a bad actor. Now the billionaire tech broligoply who own most social media are the bad actors. How many websites did you visit where the person running the website has been caught repeatedly trying to psychologically manipulate and control the masses via disinformation? Back in the day, nobody would be doing whatever the fuck it is these people are doing with kids and their pedo adjacent targeted ads and chat bots bc they would be afraid of being sent to jail for cp

Open ##482593
@SuspciousCarrot78@lemmy.world 2026-02-23 08:38

I agree - mostly. But…things online are RADICALLY different now, vs late 90s / early 2000s. I’ve outlined some of my media and tech curation for my kids above; I would LOVE for them to stumble across stuff like we did. But that internet is long gone…or if not…severely booby trapped. The competence required of (say) a curious 8yr old in 2026 vs 2002 to navigate the online landscape and NOT encounter those booby traps (I feel) is several orders of magnitude higher. I don’t think we can just park our kids in front of the 486 and say “here’s Encarta; have at it. Then I’ll show you this cool thing called a BBS”. Kinda sucks. Still, there are useful funnels / curation pathways. You CAN recreate that experience for your kids…but it’s no longer “are you winning, son?” set it and forget it meme. Now it’s “Daddy needs to be a part time sysadmin and know what’s what”.

Open ##488191