Reply to DD made a new friend on musical.ly

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[quote=Anonymous]DD is a rising 5th grader - I posted about her recently on the special needs forum. She has mild developmental delays (affects speech and motor planning) and while ASD has been ruled out by various specialists, it's possiible she is on the very high-functioning end of the spectrum. She's very social and desperately wants friends, but she's also very socially awkward and less mature than girls her age.

DD is well-liked by her classmates and is extremely kind, thoughtful, and surprisingly insightful and tuned in to others. But friendships with girls her age tend to be a challenge because she can be awkward (socially and physically) and naive and as a result, she tends to be on the outside looking in.

I've allowed her the be on musical.ly because she loves to make videos, and it's a way for her to interact with some of her classmates - I monitor all of her videos and texts. A couple weeks ago a girl she's never met named "Jane" requested to follow her and told her she seems so nice and would like to be her friend. Jane is a year older and lives in another state. Since then the girls have been sharing videos, making "duets" together and texting back and forth.

My DD is so needy for friends that she's become attached to Jane pretty quickly, but the feeling seems to be mutual. Jane has shared some personal things with DD and has thanked her for being a good friend. They call each other BFF and say "love you".

I've been watching all of this closely and with some concern. I'm not a huge fan of musically to begin with and I don't want my DD to get too attached to a virtual friend who she's never met or never will meet. Jane has been extremely kind and supportive - it must be evident that my DD has some issues and isn't like other kids her age and Jane is always cheering my DD on. She texts my DD literally every day, sometimes multiple times a day and is regularly complimenting my DD's videos, etc.

But I don't really understand what's in it for Jane, and why she's pursued a friendship with DD. I've watched her videos and she seems like a typical tween girl. I don't know if she's just a good soul trying to be kind to someone who needs it, or if she's lonely herself. Btw I can see that she's for real and not some creepy perv pretending to be a kid. And my DD doesn't reveal where she lives beyond the state of Maryland.

I guess I'm wondering - is this a common thing on musical.ly? I've been watching their interactions to make sure it doesn't turn into something negative or that Jane doesn't ever get mean or bullying. I know you can't be too careful with social media.

Guess I'm just wondering what others make of this situation and what you might do in my shoes. It's been positive for DD so far but something about it makes me uneasy.

Thank you.

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