You’re the one who initiated interaction with them in the first place. You literally came onto the post of your own accord to drop your two cents. No one forced you to–you chose to. They also have every right to respond when interacted with. I can’t imagine how your brain works that you think you can just order others not to speak up for themselves.
No one is “exposing you” to anything. On tumblr, YOU ARE THE MINORITY. 13-17 year olds make up only 15% of this site’s user base. The numbers are likely similar across other platforms. You are in territory that has always been dominated BY ADULTS (and many of those adults were some of the first “teens on the Internet” that originated text shortcuts and emoticons, and created the very platforms you use on the daily). Unless people are just randomly giving out their age to everyone they interact with online (which is SUPER NOT SMART–Did no one teach you the basics of being on the internet? You don’t just give that information out freely for potential predators to use to gain your trust!!) most people online will default assume others to be around the same age group as themselves.
You have features available to you to block and blacklist content you do not wish to see. You have the ability to just NOT go into tags. Lemme tell you something: I have literally no problem never seeing the shit I see people on here complain about. I barely have to try–it just doesn’t cross my dash. Hell, it’s far easier now than it was when I was a teen. Now, why is it so difficult for YOU??
Another option: SCROLL PAST IT. IGNORE IT. It is the easiest thing in the world to just NOT interact, and move on with your life–which you could have also done with OP’S post to begin with.
You are not our responsibility. I have thus far chosen not to have children of my own, and I’m damn sure not going to let anyone place that responsibility on me without my consent. You are expecting total strangers to look out for YOUR well-being online. We don’t even know you. Shit–we don’t even know if you’re really the age you claim to be! Do you see the problem here?
Likewise, some teens will lie about their age to gain access to sites where they are neither intended, no expected.
Many things are very thoroughly tagged, especially on places like AO3. Yet, people still complain about their existence regardless. That’s like complaining about the decor in the house of someone you don’t even know, and will never visit. You are intentionally placing us in a position where you will not be satisfied, no matter what measures are taken. Unrealistic expectations are premeditated resentments.
You have NO POWER over ANYONE. NONE. If someone is going to draw or write something, you can’t do jack to stop them unless they actively allow you to. Time and again, people with your mindset will target young, vulnerable people that are still in the stage of life where they care very deeply about what others think of them: Other kids that just want to have friends, and want to be seen as good people. Those are the ones that are easiest to manipulate, and easiest to HURT. And those are the ones I so frequently see being targeted for harassment over what shows they enjoy, what ships they have, and how they draw certain characters. People that just want to fit in are more likely to cave in to people telling them that everything they do is “wrong”, or that the fiction they enjoy makes them a “bad person”. This is textbook emotional manipulation, and it is NOT OKAY.
Until there are adequate social media spaces specifically for minors, minors either need to be monitored by an adult while online, or HAVE RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS.
Also, neurodivergent teens become neurodivergent adults. Things like ADHD don’t just magically “go away”. Hsving hyperfixations continues to be a thing. And, while I could argue that teens have far more pressure placed on them than adults, adults still have to worry about keeping a roof over our heads, food in our mouths, and clothes on our backs. We have to worry about that one tire that can’t seem to stay pressurized, or whether we can afford to get a hair cut this month, or have to keep putting it off in order to have gas money to get to work.
So, yeah–when some of us get home from places that ignore OSHA violations, cut our hours without warning, and generally don’t pay us a decent living wage, we might be inclined to distract ourselves from that harsh reality with some silly cartoons.
And then some kid tries to tell us that we’re not “allowed” to watch content created by people in OUR AGE GROUP, because they apparently can’t stay in their lane.
TL;DR: Adults that grew up with fandoms will continue being part of fandoms, especially when the content creators are around the same age, and writing things that we’ll most relate to–and that goes double for when the content is a reboot of the shows from OUR CHILDHOOD.
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