<
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/10/31/kids-turn-podcast-comments-into-secret-chat-rooms-because-of-course-they-do/>
"As anyone who has read
Techdirt for any length of time knows full well,
there’s been a years-long campaign to demonize kids and social media. Never
mind that actual experts have said the data doesn’t support the claims of
inherent harm, politicians around the globe are rushing to ban kids from social
media as fast as they can.
But banning kids from social media has a fundamental problem: kids will find a
way. They always do. And part of that is just because kids need those kinds of
“third spaces” where they can communicate outside the prying eyes of parents or
teachers. And if adults keep blocking off those spaces, kids are smart enough
to figure out clever workarounds.
Six years ago, when schools blocked social media apps on their networks,
students simply repurposed Google Docs—required for assignments—into an
improvised social network which they could hide from teachers and parents by
claiming they were working on homework:
Teens told me they use Google Docs to chat just about any time they need to
put their phone away but know their friends will be on computers. Sometimes
they’ll use the service’s live-chat function, which doesn’t open by default,
and which many teachers don’t even know exists. Or they’ll take advantage of
the fact that Google allows users to highlight certain phrases or words,
then comment on them via a pop-up box on the right side: They’ll clone a
teacher’s shared Google document, then chat in the comments, so it appears
to the casual viewer that they’re just making notes on the lesson plan. If a
teacher approaches to take a closer look, they can click the Resolve button,
and the entire thread will disappear.
That was 2019. I’m sure things like that are still happening in Google Docs,
but it’s apparently also happening in an even more absurd venue: podcast
comments."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
