Accounts held by users under 16 must be removed on apps that include TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and Threads under ban
There are always exceptions, but were ‘many’ marginalized kids really getting any meaningful community in “TikTok, Facebook, Insta, X, Youtube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and Threads”?
Maybe I’m just old and out of touch but both now, and as a queer youth, the only kind of community or support I ever found was in forums and chats outside of those huge pointless platforms. Big social media is alienating, full of ragebait and misinformation (especially about queer issues) and exude the sheer opposite of what I’d call “community”.
My instinct is that driving youth off those large platforms and will drive them onto smaller, more “actually” communal online spaces, which will be beneficial all around.
Tiktok and reddit both have large trans communities, including smaller groups. It says includes so I wonder if that includes things like discord which do have, again lots of big and small communities. Tons of opportunities to get to know people 1 on 1. Outside of here that’s where all my community is.
Question is what communal online spaces, I’m sure we know what, but for kids who are used to the mainstream spaces, how can they go to the communal online spaces? And, you know, legality and all, because even if platforms aren’t in Australia, either they get blocked because they don’t follow the “law” or have to do the same surveillance to their Australian users…
I think X (Twitter formerly lol), Tiktok and maybe Reddit are stepping stones for these marginalized kids, I still see a lot of queer stuff on those platforms, though it is just because they’re popular social media spaces, not necessarily good ones, I mean how’d you’ll find out about like the Fediverse (like Lemmy, Mastodon, etc.) for example if it weren’t through a Youtube video or Twitter post?
Not really, no. I’ve seen more marginalized kids grow to “joke” about killing queer people after spending lots of time on those apps. All the anecdotes pushing against this are coming from people who used the internet in the 90’s and 2000’s before these apps collectively became “the internet.”
There are literally thousands of them. You can start your own for free or less than $50/year depending on what you’re looking for and desired scale. You can even find dead empty ones, invite 10 people, and be the only ones using it for weeks. Moderation is probably harder than actually getting started.
Reddit is shit at being a community, but it’s far better than being stuck in exclusively Christian nationalist spaces. Even as a right-wing platform, it helped me question my political beliefs and discover my sexuality (which isn’t as important now that I’m in an accepting area, but it fucked up my mental health before then), along with finding loads of information relevant to my hobbies, and it’s also how I found Lemmy. Lemmy/Hexbear is a much better community, but it doesn’t have anywhere near the breadth of information and discussion that Reddit has. Where I live, leftist organizations mostly advertise on Instagram. As far as other productive uses go, Facebook has Marketplace and Groups which can have information that Reddit doesn’t, Youtube has tons of educational content, and TikTok/Instagram/Facebook can be helpful for promoting art or skills. I would agree though that in general, the algorithmic feed-driven platforms are horrible for community, and Reddit being infested with bots and paid actors makes it more questionable.
There are always exceptions, but were ‘many’ marginalized kids really getting any meaningful community in “TikTok, Facebook, Insta, X, Youtube, Snapchat, Reddit, Kick, Twitch and Threads”?
Maybe I’m just old and out of touch
but both now, and as a queer youth, the only kind of community or support I ever found was in forums and chats outside of those huge pointless platforms. Big social media is alienating, full of ragebait and misinformation (especially about queer issues) and exude the sheer opposite of what I’d call “community”.
My instinct is that driving youth off those large platforms and will drive them onto smaller, more “actually” communal online spaces, which will be beneficial all around.
Tiktok and reddit both have large trans communities, including smaller groups. It says includes so I wonder if that includes things like discord which do have, again lots of big and small communities. Tons of opportunities to get to know people 1 on 1. Outside of here that’s where all my community is.
Question is what communal online spaces, I’m sure we know what, but for kids who are used to the mainstream spaces, how can they go to the communal online spaces? And, you know, legality and all, because even if platforms aren’t in Australia, either they get blocked because they don’t follow the “law” or have to do the same surveillance to their Australian users…
I think X (Twitter formerly lol), Tiktok and maybe Reddit are stepping stones for these marginalized kids, I still see a lot of queer stuff on those platforms, though it is just because they’re popular social media spaces, not necessarily good ones, I mean how’d you’ll find out about like the Fediverse (like Lemmy, Mastodon, etc.) for example if it weren’t through a Youtube video or Twitter post?
Well, I found out about Hexbear through friends on IRC, but…
Not really, no. I’ve seen more marginalized kids grow to “joke” about killing queer people after spending lots of time on those apps. All the anecdotes pushing against this are coming from people who used the internet in the 90’s and 2000’s before these apps collectively became “the internet.”
Do small forums and chats still exist in 2025 or were they all ‘outcompeted’ by the big platforms?
There are literally thousands of them. You can start your own for free or less than $50/year depending on what you’re looking for and desired scale. You can even find dead empty ones, invite 10 people, and be the only ones using it for weeks. Moderation is probably harder than actually getting started.
Reddit is shit at being a community, but it’s far better than being stuck in exclusively Christian nationalist spaces. Even as a right-wing platform, it helped me question my political beliefs and discover my sexuality (which isn’t as important now that I’m in an accepting area, but it fucked up my mental health before then), along with finding loads of information relevant to my hobbies, and it’s also how I found Lemmy. Lemmy/Hexbear is a much better community, but it doesn’t have anywhere near the breadth of information and discussion that Reddit has. Where I live, leftist organizations mostly advertise on Instagram. As far as other productive uses go, Facebook has Marketplace and Groups which can have information that Reddit doesn’t, Youtube has tons of educational content, and TikTok/Instagram/Facebook can be helpful for promoting art or skills. I would agree though that in general, the algorithmic feed-driven platforms are horrible for community, and Reddit being infested with bots and paid actors makes it more questionable.