this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2025
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First of all, I don't mean this post as a complaint, maybe more of a warning?

There is teenagers on the fediverse. Most of them don't share their age, for hopefully obvious reasons. I'd say that a lot of the accounts which do a lot of posting/commenting are run by teenagers


because most adults probably wouldn't have the time for that much posting.

While the young people of this generation are generally useless when it comes to something more complicated than microsoft word, the people who are good at technology, usually are very good at it.

most of my friends (most of which don't know the difference between a laptop and a desktop) could understand the fediverse as a concept perfectly when I explained it to them irl.

So, if you're in a really stupid argument with someone, try to remember that there is a small chance they are 14.

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[–] kbal@fedia.io 153 points 1 week ago (2 children)

WARNING To the People of Earth: Teenagers exist. BEWARE

[–] throwaway@lemmy.cafe 24 points 1 week ago (12 children)

Pretty much yeah, most people assume that no one under 30 is on fedi because its "hard" to use.

[–] 30p87@feddit.org 28 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm 19 and assumed that there are at least a few. And with that I'm correct.

[–] throwaway@lemmy.cafe 8 points 1 week ago
[–] ByteMe@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I'm 24 and I'm using it just fine. I'd say that after signing up somewhere and getting an app to login into, the rest is pretty simple and much similar to reddit

[–] throwaway@lemmy.cafe 14 points 1 week ago (6 children)

With lemmy? definitely! On the mastodon side of things? no. Mastodon seems to be for german middle aged bikers now.

[–] superkret@feddit.org 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Oh boy, I should get on Mastodon!

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[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 1 week ago (5 children)

What part of the fediverse is "hard" to use?

Lemmy is easier to use than the UBB forum I started to become active on at the age of 10 that was the entry point for me being on the Internet at all. Back then we didn't have Markdown, but BBCode, and I had that figured out after a few weeks.

I think you're way underestimating young people.

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[–] Nougat@fedia.io 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The assumptions that people make about age boggle my mind. You know that the people who made the internet are all "old" now, right?

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[–] Condiment2085@lemm.ee 40 points 1 week ago (3 children)

This is actually a good thing - teenagers are known to bring niche things into popular culture! For some reason the whole of society kind of cares what they think is cool

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[–] Blaze@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Teenagers now get banned if they tell their age anyway: !yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com

[–] cm0002@lemmy.world 70 points 1 week ago (10 children)

To any teens who come across this post, do NOT admit you're underage or were underage at time of account creation anywhere, anytime for any reason

It's like Rule 1 of the internet.

Sincerely, The kids who grew alongside the internet since the 90s

[–] Max_P@lemmy.max-p.me 21 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I was totally above 13 or had parental consent when I went to forums in the early 2000s. I totally wasn't actually 9.

It's wild to me this concept disappeared? It's literally never been a good idea to reveal you're a minor online. The laws are against you. Companies don't want to deal with a curated minor experience, even less so in the current times. If they do, you get the crappier version of things.

The worst thing to happen to the Internet is when Facebook normalized using your real name and real info online.

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[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 13 points 1 week ago (5 children)
[–] Gullible@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

14/f/under your floorboards

[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

14/f/under your floorboards

Translation: Either "FBI" or "40/m/under your floorboards"

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[–] throwaway@lemmy.cafe 8 points 1 week ago

On my main account (this is a throwaway, if the username didn't already suggest that) I'm sure if you dug around enough you'd find out my age, but it would be a lot of effort.

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[–] ptz@dubvee.org 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

And what's the problem with that?

Laws don't currently make a concession for federated social media. If the law in an instance's jurisdiction says that users on a platform must be of a certain age, then for practical/enforcement purposes it makes no difference if they're local or federated.

FWIW, I also ban people under age 18 on my instance (local and federated). Obviously I can't know everyone's age, but if someone offers it and I become aware, and it's below the minimum age set in our policy, then they're banned until they're of age - simple as that.

I'm in the US, so 13 is the minimum age by law for most services (COPPA), and there's various grumblings to increase the age specifically for social media, so I'm playing it safe with 18 which is the age you're legally considered an adult.

Considering some of the stuff that gets posted here (legitimately and via bad actors), then my legal liabilities are less as I'm going out of my way to only serve adults on the platform. Mind you, I'm running this as a hobby / volunteer and do not have a team of lawyers on hand.

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[–] socsa@piefed.social 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Meh. At least pretending to be an adult feels like a pretty low bar.

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[–] RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works 31 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Honestly as an older person it very much feels like a lot of Lemmy is under 25. It's the little things like not understanding the historical context that something from the past fits in while simultaneously telling me Im wrong about the time that I lived through.

[–] TORFdot0@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago (4 children)

You are either a 14 year old socialist furry or a 35 year old Linux user on the fedi. No in between

[–] reiterationstation@lemm.ee 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Ooof well older than that Sonny…

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[–] weremacaque@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

Most of us would post on forums as teens back in the day, so it’s hypocritical to try to keep them from doing it too. The only places we should run them off would be communities we specifically make for adults. They don’t necessarily have to be NSFW. Sometimes it’s just nice to have a community where everyone is old enough that they get the same references and are in similar stages in life.

General music and hobby related communities really shouldn’t be blocked off, though.

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[–] LostXOR@fedia.io 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

As a teenager who is relatively tech-savvy and on the fediverse, can confirm. I think it's gotten to the point where even less technically inclined people can join fairly easily, but the more savvy are usually the first to flee from enshittifying platforms so we see a lot more of them here.

[–] throwaway@lemmy.cafe 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] LostXOR@fedia.io 20 points 1 week ago

Teenager ≠ underage, 18 and 19 year olds exist. But thanks for your concern. :)

[–] LambdaRX@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Ah yes, of course other generations are much better with technology than today's teens.

[–] throwaway@lemmy.cafe 28 points 1 week ago (3 children)

They are, teenagers (saying this as a teenager) are hopeless. Tech became so easy to use that anything requiring a tiny bit of effort is impossible for these people.

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (9 children)

Its the same as its always been. There was always a small subset of the population interested and developing computer sciences. There was never this time where all the youngins knew computers like they did breathing. That was a fallacy.

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[–] TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org 9 points 1 week ago (3 children)

At 14, me and most of my peers could navigate a file system on DOS, format floppies, install games from setup disks, and edit autoexec.bat files.

Yes, there is a huge difference between the teens of today and the teens of 25 years ago. Technological illiteracy is real thanks to the iPhone era and UIs becoming stupid simple to use.

The "iPad kids" meme didn't originate from thin air.

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[–] Angelusz@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (7 children)

You people still get into arguments online? Discussions, sure.. but arguments? o.O

[–] SatyrSack@feddit.org 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

YOU GET INTO INTERNET ARGUMENTS ALL THE TIME, YOU FUNGDARK! YOU'RE IN ONE NOW!

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[–] WatDabney@fedia.io 17 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I've long assumed that many (most?) of the tankies, and of hexbear's userbase in general, are teens.

[–] throwaway@lemmy.cafe 12 points 1 week ago

You would probably be right. Teenagers change political ideologies every other month.

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[–] small44@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Why do you think teens are generally stupid?

[–] throwaway@lemmy.cafe 17 points 1 week ago (3 children)

As a teenager, I get in stupid arguments making stupid points because in my head, being right is important.

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[–] Delphia@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Listen teens, I'm 40. I was a niteclub bouncer in a town popular with backpackers and partying, I also did a lot of traveling and partying. I was shameless, its a miracle it didnt fall off.

When you say you fucked my mom, its childish and stupid. When I say I fucked your mom while its not likely its possible... and thats worse.

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[–] kane@femboys.biz 13 points 1 week ago

Maybe, but I was on the internet as a teen and that went fine, being careful is a general thing in life.

But more importantly: adults have a phone and use it during work ALL the time. So I’m not so sure about the average age of the people commenting on here.

[–] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

14 going on 40 so it will be some spirited ebeef. No quarter will be given

[–] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)

But don’t assume everyone who is very active is a teenagers.

Some of us aren’t ;).

And you don’t have to understand federation to use lemmy. I’ve brought a couple of gen-z ers here. Get them to download voyager. Voyger automatically suggests lemm.ee for account creation. And then you just use it like reddit. Super simple.

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[–] Nougat@fedia.io 9 points 1 week ago

I'd say that a lot of the accounts which do a lot of posting/commenting are run by teenagers


because most adults probably wouldn't have the time for that much posting.

Challenge accepted.

[–] Darkmoon_UK@lemm.ee 9 points 1 week ago

It should not be that surprising. Many teenagers are really smart, curious and will find their way here. That said I realise your warning is well intentioned; I hope Lemmy remains a more civil place than Reddit became over the last ten years, for everyone; teenagers included.

[–] Fleur_@hilariouschaos.com 9 points 1 week ago (4 children)

WHAT!!!??

TEENAGERS??

ONLINE?????

Brooo I had no idea... how could this happen? I never would've guessed there could be teenagers despite at one point being one and using the internet. I get you're probably pretty new to being online but like come on, the rest of the world doesn't discover things at the rate you do...

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)
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