mekka okereke Mar 3, 2023

🤡Oh we're uploading charts about why teens are unhappy? And saying it's "the phones" or "the apps?"

Well, let me upload my charts!

Showing that:
* Black kids are online *much more* than white kids.
* Black kids have seen *much less* increase in depression since 2011.

🙂🙃

Show threadmekka okereke Mar 3, 2023

If you ask older conservative adjacent dudes what's making teens depressed, they'll confidently tell you "smartphones and apps!"

But if you ask teens what's making them depressed, they'll tell you "older conservative adjacent dudes."

The racist people that used to target Black teens online, in real life, at school, at the doctor's office...

...have now started targeting white teens, online, in real life, at school, and at the doctor's office.

Like we said they would. 🤷🏿‍♂️

Show threadmekka okereke Mar 3, 2023

Picture a white teenage girl posting the following on Instagram:

"Feeling blessed! I just voted for Katie Porter, because she supports reproductive rights and gun control and anti-racism! I personally don't plan to have kids. I can't afford it! And I care about the environment."

Show threadmekka okereke Mar 3, 2023

There's a good chance that she could wind up the target of several different F*x News segments or attacks by sitting politicians.

I count at least 6 issues she could be attacked for, and receive online threats of violence for.

Yeah, that might make her unhappy.

Show threadmekka okereke Mar 3, 2023

That's before we even get to the unhappiness from unhealthy comparison to others.

If your solution for increasing her happiness is "Just don't be online!" Then I don't know what to tell you. I can't even argue with that. We're too far apart to even have a meaningful conversation.

Show threadmekka okereke Mar 3, 2023

Yes, a Black teen girl posting that same thing to Instagram would receive the same abuse. Worse actually.

But your racist F*x News watching relatives have been dishing this abuse out to Black folk since forever. It's not new to us.

What's new is that the hate has now come for your kids.

Show threadsecretslothMar 3, 2023
@mekkaokereke exactly this. My kid has been getting pro-Nazi ads on YouTube for years - and cannot report them, or stop them, even though their account is listed as underage, *because it is being done via paid advertisement.* They aren't really on social media, but do watch videos made by friends or recommended by friends - YouTube is literally trying to recruit my kid, and yours, to be a literal Nazi, and good luck doing a damn thing about it. Poor kid has been so upset by this.
Show threadTunguskaMar 3, 2023

@secretsloth @mekkaokereke

This is kind of tangential, but there's some decent ad-blocking tech out there. For YT in particular, I've seen newpipe (Android) and freetube (desktop) recommended. Maybe that could help?

https://ohai.social/@Fawn/109959405470766207

Fawn (@[email protected])

@[email protected] NewPipe. It's on F-Droid. For PC, use freetube. Idk about IPhone. Maybe someone else will know, if you need that info. I also recommend Nebula ($20/year) and a lot of people seem fond of peertube 'round these parts. Bookmark this if you want to come back to it. Idk if any of this is new information for you, but NewPipe is my baby, tbh. If it gets buggy, youtube updated & it take a minute for NewPipe to catch up, but they're quick, so enable update notifs and keep an eye out. Stay utd!

ohai.social
Show threadsecretslothMar 3, 2023
@tunguska @mekkaokereke ah, thank you, I actually hadn't heard there was something that worked for Android. Kid had something that worked, but then it stopped (you'll be really pleased to hear they are now getting furry waifu ads instead, for now at least. I am really relieved 😅 but it has become a sad sort of joke at our house that we've gone from nazi to furries!)(we actually known and love many furries, but do not desire any waifus)
Show threadjust adrienneMar 3, 2023
@secretsloth @tunguska @mekkaokereke I can vouch for Newpipe on Android. The interface is kinda clunky but it's solid software! Unfortunately you do have to sideload it, because obviously Google doesn't allow it in the Play Store -- but as long as you get it from the official site or from F-Droid, it's perfectly safe.
Show threadsecretslothMar 3, 2023
@adrienne @tunguska @mekkaokereke ahhhhh that explains a lot! I was just wondering about that 😅 thanks for confirming!
Show threadjust adrienneMar 3, 2023
@secretsloth @tunguska @mekkaokereke (Sideloading is tricky because there IS malware out there -- but then, sometimes there's malware in the Play Store too! Again, though, I can vouch for Newpipe as safe. If your kid can't figure out how to install it -- the instructions are slightly different for different phones -- tell them to do a search for "sideload apps [phone model]" and they should get clear directions!
Show threadsecretsloth
@adrienne ahhh that should work, kiddo is usually pretty savvy but *now and then* clicks a dumb link (cough minecraft mods cough) lol easily googled instructions are so nice 😅
Mar 3, 2023 at 7:02pmWeb
Show threadjust adrienneMar 3, 2023
@secretsloth Hey, we've ALL clicked a bad link once or twice. Malware is an arms race, and nobody can possibly stay on top of every possible security challenge.
Show threadsecretslothMar 3, 2023
@adrienne yeah, that's the truth. I do worry more with kid of course because while I care about being spied on, I really do take it personally if somebody compromises *them* 😱 luckily the incident happened right after we'd changed computers, so we just reinstalled Windows, because that was actually the only solution, but we didn't lose anything. A good teaching opportunity, and now kiddo is quite careful.