Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 20:06     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
My 17 year old isn’t on tik tok. She is on instagram and snap chat.

I guess it is possible she is lying to me, but why in the world would she lie about something like that when it isn’t something I would ban.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 20:05     Subject: Re:Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine is not and isn’t interested. You are a bit obtuse OP


You’re raising a kid who will not fit in. Maybe that’s fine but know that


Oh dear, you need educating.

I have older teens. A good many teens are not on TikTok. You know why? TikTok content is pushed out via Youtube and other channels. You can get the gist without having an account. Neither my son nor my daughter have personal social media accounts, and yet they're 100% in the know. Their friends are 50/50. And some of their classmates are terminally trying to be influencers on TikTok or Insta and do nothing else with their lives.

You need to accept that there's a * W I D E * range of what's normal among teens. This is what's hardest for adults to understand, those who grew up with a limited number of TV channels, music videos and rigid trends that everyone else was watching and following. Youths today are a lot more comfortable with the multiplicity of content and thousands of microtrends. They don't NEED to fit into one media! There's something for everyone out there! If there's something "important" a person missed, someone in their circle will send them a meme about it!

And honestly, that's so wonderful.



Posting again to note that *I* have never banned anything on the internet from my kids. We had a talk when they were middle schoolers about grooming, porn, and cyberbullying, things that for me fall in the health and safety category. But then they were free to navigate. And the result is that they have yet to create a social media account. My young adult has a Linked In, but he doesn't actually use it to communicate.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 19:54     Subject: Re:Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine is not and isn’t interested. You are a bit obtuse OP


You’re raising a kid who will not fit in. Maybe that’s fine but know that


Oh dear, you need educating.

I have older teens. A good many teens are not on TikTok. You know why? TikTok content is pushed out via Youtube and other channels. You can get the gist without having an account. Neither my son nor my daughter have personal social media accounts, and yet they're 100% in the know. Their friends are 50/50. And some of their classmates are terminally trying to be influencers on TikTok or Insta and do nothing else with their lives.

You need to accept that there's a * W I D E * range of what's normal among teens. This is what's hardest for adults to understand, those who grew up with a limited number of TV channels, music videos and rigid trends that everyone else was watching and following. Youths today are a lot more comfortable with the multiplicity of content and thousands of microtrends. They don't NEED to fit into one media! There's something for everyone out there! If there's something "important" a person missed, someone in their circle will send them a meme about it!

And honestly, that's so wonderful.

Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 19:43     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
I have told DD that if she creates a Tim tok account on the phone we pay for I can lose my job. And if I lose my job- she is losing her phone, car, activities, etc…she doesn’t have tik tok
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 19:16     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anonymous wrote:The pope is on Instagram and while he doesn’t have an official Tik Tok, he apparently does use it, and there are many unofficial accounts about him


Right, social media is officially for old people.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 19:13     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anonymous wrote:Anyone that lets their child use social media is trash!


While I agree with the sentiment that most social media is trashy, parents really cannot stop them if the kids want to use them. They can always just buy a burner phone or use a friends older phone.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 18:50     Subject: Re:Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine is not and isn’t interested. You are a bit obtuse OP


You’re raising a kid who will not fit in. Maybe that’s fine but know that


NP. My 17 year old isn’t either. Doesn’t want it. Should I force it so she’ll fit in? Is that all it takes?
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 18:37     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Mine are not. My 20 year old is not on social media at all. My 15 year old's poison of choice is Discord (which can be much worse than TikTok, depending on who you chat with).

Separately, I don't get your attitude, OP. Some teens aren't into social media, some don't vape, some don't do weed, some don't drink, some don't do drugs, some don't have sex, etc. Statistically, those circles will overlap and it's perfectly possible to get a kid who doesn't do any of those things. Maybe it's your kid, maybe it's not. But gloating that parents are blind to their children's behavior is weird.




Social media does not equal drugs. It is a communication channel and whether you like it or not, part of the modern world that your kids will need to navigate in order to be successful. Sorry, it’s true.


PP you replied to. And? You think I'm forcing a 20 year old? It's his choice. Neither my husband nor I are on social media, as in, we do not use personal accounts on FB, Insta or TikTok. It's a choice. And yet somehow we're functional human beings with friends! We use the internet, are on Youtube and DCUM, etc. But I prefer keeping in touch with friends without FB, which I used to have and very much dislike. I do not WANT a social media presence. A social media presence should not be a hiring requirement, for instance, unless one hires for PR or communication. We're scientists. We couldn't care less.

Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 18:33     Subject: Re:Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anonymous wrote:OP you are not smart


Probably true

I don't restrict TikTok. If they want, they can have it. But they say it's for kids.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 18:04     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
some parents are very naive op.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 17:37     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
The pope is on Instagram and while he doesn’t have an official Tik Tok, he apparently does use it, and there are many unofficial accounts about him
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 16:34     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anonymous wrote:Anyone that lets their child use social media is trash!

I bet you posted that on your Facebook account last night.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 16:33     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Anyone that lets their child use social media is trash!
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 16:32     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
Who cares. Older teens do not need a parent moderating every move they make, even on social media. Once they are 16+, I leave them to manage their own lives and only intervene if there's an obvious problem.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 16:32     Subject: Do some of you parents with older teens truly believe they’re not on TikTok?
No, hours on instagram.