@Etienne what is the minimum age to join penpal gate?
You must be at least 13
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Hello everybody!! 🙋♀️💁♀️
This forum is made by @Melifekyybor and @Yue_ and we are super curious what you think about different social media bans!!! 😬😬🙄🙄🙄 This is happening:
1️⃣ In the USA maybe tomorrow there will be a TikTok BAN!!! And EVEN if you are not in the USA you can still see it because content creators and uploaders are often in the USA!! And maybe other countries will do the same!
2️⃣ In Australia the minimum age now for social media is 15 or 16 ANDDD we saw in the Dutch news that maybe it will also be in The Netherlands because they will talk about it in politics!! 😔😔😔 Maybe before they should choose anything they should FIRSTTT ask what we think about it because it is about us and not them!!!!!!
3️⃣ China blocked recently PPG and Mimi told us for example that you need a VPN or you cant use PPG anymore. 🙁
⬆️⬆️ What do you think about the social media bans as above BECAUSE it can happen in other countries TOO!!! And of course the above bans are very different from each other but maybe it will become worse than this too!! Do you think that the government should decide it or that persons can decide it themselves? And what are your other thoughts? 🆘🆘
Thank you very much!! 🙏🙏
@Parsaa, @H_E_A_R_T, @Pennarossa2024, @Etienne, @Simone724, @-Kiki-, @LittleWren, @HappyvomSee, @Sarahsalah27, @Esma-Nur, @Emmiiii_17_11, @Miss_Penpal, @mayuuram, @martutuni, @Lianshen, @Sabri_KC, @NILU1234, @Fleurke, @Piwipete, @steve-san, @Ian77, @LandRoverDiscovery2, @diogenes_cask, @Roseeeee, @lucasar92, @PaulGolem, @Lorenzo111, @Paolo63, @TSG123, @Oxiu, @Snoomy, @Ilexforest, @jiijii04, @Borboletagirl, @Clementine_cat, @Browncore, @KaleiHoney, @sunnydance, @allstarcheer, @john_z, @aknanua, @Jojina, @Boa_RC, @rikisocool, @alegzander, @Melifekyybor, @Maree24, @56Cubik
Hello!
I am completely against banning apps because it affects people's freedom to choose how they use the internet.
1️⃣ Regarding the potential TikTok ban in the USA, I believe the government shouldn't decide for millions of users what's best for them. If there are concerns about privacy, it's better to implement laws to regulate usage and protect data rather than imposing a complete ban.
2️⃣ As for setting a minimum age in Australia, I think the solution is not to prevent young people from using social media but to educate them on how to use it safely and effectively. Banning doesn't solve the problem; it only restricts freedom.
3️⃣ About China banning PPG, this is another example of limiting freedom of expression and access to information. The internet should remain an open space for everyone, with ways to protect users without imposing restrictions.
In the end, I believe that the freedom to use the internet is a right for everyone, and banning apps is not the solution.
Why do you say that?
I say it because in Australia it is now a rule that you must be at least 15. I read it today. And in my country in politics they talk about it and i saw in the news that they think that most adults agree with it.
And also in the reactions above many people believe that we should not be on social media because they said that they agree that you should be 15 or older.
So if it is a rule in different countries we cant be here. And if people mean what they say above and even if it is not a rule yet, they dont really approve it. That means that Savithi, Parsaa, Emmi, me and many others are not really welcome for many persons even our friends.
I don`t know other social media but I like it here and
love the exchange with people from all over the world and of any age.
I also think that it is important that the kids learn how to use it.
@Yue_, if I hadn't met you and many others your age here, I would be a little less.
I learn from you and can communicate better with the younger people in my "normal" life.
I'm always happy when I meet someone whose opinions and ideas are not yet so entrenched.
I truly believe that your generation is the key for better communication in the world.
I see it as my responsibility to protect the heightened sensitivity of many young people
and to encourage them to have new experiences and not be overly influenced by the
ingrained ideas of those with "more experience".
So it does look like a lot of people already in this forum think that maybe everybody below 15 or 16 should not be here. That means that a lot of people should maybe stop because PPG is also social media. And if that is what most think i will understand it and that we are not really welcome or that people dont approve it really.
Some time ago a person said that the forum used to be boring in the past because nothing happened and i think that the last half year the most active forums A LOTTTT were made by people who are maybe not so welcome. And i think that PPG will change if that is true or a new rule.
I mean social media like Instagram and TikTok, as it's a different kind of social media than Penpal in my opinion. Here there aren't videos you can endlessy scroll through, or comment on pictures people post on their profile. You also can't watch people's stories or have a home page with lots of pictures from the fun your friends are having (without you maybe). It helps prevent the comparison and you're less likely to cross your own boundaries to be a part of a group. On top of that, the attention span of young teenagers won't be negatively influenced as much on this site compared to other social media platforms.
I think this site is fairly safe for young teenagers and I don't mean to discriminate anyone here based on their age. For me people under 15 are welcome here.
I do highly agree with the aspect of freedom others mention, as freedom is incredibely important to me. It could be a better idea to educate children and inform them about potential dangers instead of banning them. Maybe a time limit on their screen time could be a better option rather than shutting them off entirely.
Yes please only tag individuals when actually relevant, it's not supposed to be a spam tool to artificially farm engagement 😛.
It is not to spam or to farm artificially if i understand what you mean.
A lot of people wrote earlier that it is nice if more and a lot of different persons are on the forum, but not many people really did something to make that different. So i thought maybe tagging is a good idea and i tagged friends, people who are active on the forum and the forum moderator. Because how can you moderate if you dont read the forums and are present? And so far nobody complained except the forum moderator. It is of course his choice so i will respect that. But it is to explain why.
And it worked because forums were bigger. And if people didnt want to write that is ok and they just didnt. So it was not artificial i think. More like an alarm clock like @mayuuram said.
But if maybe i will make a new forum, i will not do it anymore.
but we sometime ago had some members with the age of 11 and sometmie ago the min age was 9
The age check system previously only looked at the year so you could technically be 12 when signing up. And if you were a little tech savvy you could even entirely bypass it (it was a known flaw but never took the time to patch it). It was reworked a few months ago and is now as secure as everything else.
@Yue_: Well if everyone tagged everyone else every time they made a new topic you understand it'd get very messy real quick and would render the entire tagging system irrelevant (when you're drowning with notifications you just stop reading them). Feel free to tag people who explicitly give you their consent to being added to the Yue's mailing list (😛) instead of making people opt out of it, please 🙏️
The age check system previously only looked at the year so you could technically be 12 when signing up. And if you were a little tech savvy you could even entirely bypass it (it was a known flaw but never took the time to patch it). It was reworked a few months ago and is now as secure as everything else.
@Yue_: Well if everyone tagged everyone else every time they made a new topic you understand it'd get very messy real quick and would render the entire tagging system irrelevant (when you're drowning with notifications you just stop reading them). Feel free to tag people who explicitly give you their consent to being added to the Yue's mailing list (😛) instead of making people opt out of it, please 🙏️
It will not be relevant anymore.
If other people want: you can discuss what you like about the other topics. If not that is ok too.
@Yue_ you can tag me. If I don't like the topic, I won't reply 🙂🙃
Thank you @Pennarossa2024 but i will now not disturb a lot. I will finish the interviews (there are 5 i think at the moment) and i want to think about some things that i feel unsure about.
But i dont want to disturb anybody with that because it is not the topic of this forum so everybody who wants can discuss about the social media bans if they want to say something about it.
I say it because in Australia it is now a rule that you must be at least 15. I read it today. And in my country in politics they talk about it and i saw in the news that they think that most adults agree with it.
And also in the reactions above many people believe that we should not be on social media because they said that they agree that you should be 15 or older.
So if it is a rule in different countries we cant be here. And if people mean what they say above and even if it is not a rule yet, they dont really approve it. That means that Savithi, Parsaa, Emmi, me and many others are not really welcome for many persons even our friends.
For me personally, it's not that you're/we're not welcome. It's just that I think it's not good for people still in development to spend too much time online. Although I agree that things shouldn't be BANNED for no reason, have you ever tried to stop an addicted person from doing their addiction? With my brother that spends all his free time on the computer, I can tell you it's not easy. If it's needed to ban 15 year olds and under from social media to stop them from being on their screens every hour of their life, then so be it. You shouldn't let your child take drugs just because it's technically legal and because you know people who let their child do it, and it's the same with screens.
As for Penpal sites, I consider it social media, but not the bad kind, so it would be unfortunate to not be allowed to use those anymore. I hope younger people will still be allowed on Penpal sites, but I still believe most social media is bad for younger people.
Why ban social media at all? All forms of censorship are dangerous: it is the parents' responsibility to educate their children and ensure they make proper use of the Internet. Banning is often just a pretext to easily shut down something one doesn't like. In this case, Tiktok isn't any worse than American social media, it's just that Americans want a monopoly on Internet/entertainment. Pretending Tiktok is dangerous for showing shorts is the easiest way to slay competition. The infamous age old "think of the children" strategy.
In the case of TikTok, it's not really about short films in the USA, which is why TiKTok should be banned.
TikTok is a multiplier of disinformation, right-wing extremist garbage, hate speech, homophobia and much more. Institutions can of course think about regulating access.
Why do you think that TikTok should be banned or limited @Lianshen? Thank you very much!!
Because
it has been built in such a way that it is highly addictive, but also
promoting stupidity and have a number of pernicious effects, notably on
mental health.
However, it's not only social medias. There are tons
of things that are not so nice for us; and it depends how they are
built, how they are consumed etc. I believe, for instance, that a place
like PPG has more pros than cons.
Why ban social media at all? All forms of censorship are dangerous: it is the parents' responsibility to educate their children and ensure they make proper use of the Internet. Banning is often just a pretext to easily shut down something one doesn't like. In this case, Tiktok isn't any worse than American social media, it's just that Americans want a monopoly on Internet/entertainment. Pretending Tiktok is dangerous for showing shorts is the easiest way to slay competition. The infamous age old "think of the children" strategy.
Indeed; that's extreme and that might be because I am very biased on the question. However, you talk about parents' responsibility, but I think we can agree on the idea that most of parents don't carefully monitor their children's activity on internet and are sometimes those parents are even beyond redemption. When they are not such people, in some case, some apps are just going beyond their head too.
If an app, or a social media here, has effects on health, then it should be framed more carefully, and not like it actually is by some ancestors who barely know what internet is.
Concerning Tiktok, indeed, it's only an excuse and IG or even Youtube Shorts are not any better. Hence, if you bann TikTok, or at least frame it, then it should also apply to all other social medias.