Twitter (X) option to call their mom

I am grateful to have spent a relatively small amount of time online as a child. Yes, I played a lot of Runescape and discovered apps like Spotify in their infancy, but I largely missed spending time on MySpace or even Twitter in its early days.

One of the things you’ll notice if you spend any time on Reddit, Instagram, or even Twitter is how unabashedly mean some people are. It can be draining to get called mean names by an anonymous account with a profile picture of a sad-looking frog.

Often, these accounts are operated by people who aren’t even old enough to drive. This got me thinking… what sort of accountability mechanisms do we have in place to make these youngsters behave?

For many, parents are a great way to moderate behavior. However, they might not know what Timmy is doing on his phone when they aren’t in the room. Ideally, users who are already online could help parents become aware of deviant behavior. What if on apps like Twitter (X) you could report a user to their parents or even call their mom?

A lot of privacy concerns come to mind immediately. This would likely not work, but it’d be a fun social experiment to witness.

Have a friend who was a menace online as a kid? Send them this newsletter.

https://sorens.beehiiv.com/