did you have unrestricted internet access as a child?

[winamp]

I am curious
also because I am getting random memories and flashbacks to old and notorious shock sites and viral content

 

[Rocinante]

Yeah lol. It would often result in people checking my search history and questioning me on it

 

[Ambivalent1]

The internet was shit. Yahoo chat rooms were fun though

 

[winamp]

Yeah lol. It would often result in people checking my search history and questioning me on it

usually for me I would look at and for shock sites out of curiosity or I would see things against my will

so now I am very desensitized to a lot and thoroughly enjoy watching and analyzing horror, gore, and art house films (edit: to an almost unhealthy degree)

also made me think to myself "kids arent getting traumatized like they used to" but it also makes me think "maybe the internet is better than it used to be and I'm glad children aged 9 - 13 aren't encountering shocking content like I and many others did" but I am unsure how the internet is now although I have seen people talking about shock content being posted on platforms like Tik Tok which is popular now I am unsure how to feel about it all

TL;DR is being desensitized to and aware of various nsfw and shock content at a young age a good thing or a bad thing ?

 

[Rocinante]

usually for me I would look at and for shock sites out of curiosity or I would see things against my will

so now I am very desensitized to a lot and thoroughly enjoy watching and analyzing horror, gore, and art house films (edit: to an almost unhealthy degree)

Same, there was a time when I found those types of gore videos intriguing. Watching them can be a brutal realization of how fragile and meaningless human life is. Here one moment, gone the next.

also made me think to myself "kids arent getting traumatized like they used to" but it also makes me think "maybe the internet is better than it used to be and I'm glad children aged 9 - 13 aren't encountering shocking content like I and many others did" but I am unsure how the internet is now although I have seen people talking about shock content being posted on platforms like Tik Tok which is popular now I am unsure how to feel about it all

Most of the sites that I frequented are long gone, LiveLeak being the most notable of those sites. If people want to access them they can with enough searching, but gore sites are no longer out there to be found on the regular.

TL;DR is being desensitized to and aware of various nsfw and shock content at a young age a good thing or a bad thing ?

I was exposed to, and actively searched, gore videos at a younger age. I don't think they had any effect on me. Was just an "edgy" phase of mine.

 

[Forever Sleep]

There was no internet for me as a child! Lol. I'm 43. I bet you can't even imagine that?!! . We had to go to the library, read a book, wait for our favourite programmes to be sheduled on TV and when computer games came along- they didn't save your progress. When you died- you'd have to start again! Ha ha- the 'good' old days.

I don't think I really started using the internet till I was in my twenties. By then, it was probably 'safer'. It was that weird dial up thing then- you couldn't use your phone at the same time. Things have changed so much. It must have been weird at the start though I imgine... was the whole thing more like the dark web?!!

 

[lachrymost]

No. There was a period where it was fairly unrestricted but there was always a risk of my parents scrutinizing my search history or looking over my shoulder. Then when I was a young adult my Dad maintained some draconian filters and restrictions. At one point, it wouldn't let me look at any webpage that had the word "girl" on it.

On the other hand, I did have enough freedom to be essentially raised by a few YouTubers. I'm thankful for that to this day. I would have been even more sheltered and naive if I hadn't been allowed to watch YouTube.

 

[winamp]

There was no internet for me as a child! Lol. I'm 43. I bet you can't even imagine that?!! . We had to go to the library, read a book, wait for our favourite programmes to be sheduled on TV and when computer games came along- they didn't save your progress. When you died- you'd have to start again! Ha ha- the 'good' old days.

I don't think I really started using the internet till I was in my twenties. By then, it was probably 'safer'. It was that weird dial up thing then- you couldn't use your phone at the same time. Things have changed so much. It must have been weird at the start though I imgine... was the whole thing more like the dark web?!!

I thought television was a lot less censored and explicit in the 70s - 00s or is that just exaggerated ?

 

[Forever Sleep]

I thought television was a lot less censored and explicit in the 70s - 00s or is that just exaggerated ?

Yeah- I think it was. Especially the humour. You wouldn't get away with some of the stuff now- at least on mainstream TV. But yeah- probably being female- I sometimes look back at old interviews and think- God- that's so misogynistic. Of course- now and again they'd pick on the wrong person- like Grace Jones. Lol! Good for her! I think presenters used to be terrified of her.

Honestly, I barely watch TV now to be honest... It's weird though- because- while some things have become highly regulated to be PC- I think there's a lot more violence and drama than there used to be. Like in soap opera's- they used to be so tame and quaint. Now- there's some major trauma happening every other week to keep the audiences attention. Weird really- there's maybe more visceral violence now. When you look at the film ratings years ago- a rating 15 back then likely wouldn't be the same today. Those films can seem pretty tame by todays standards. Yet spoken or insinuated stuff or I suppose 'reality' programmes seem to need to be especially careful of not causing offence. They all have 'helplines' afterwards now. Lol.

 

[Kasumi]

When I was a child I didn't even know the internet existed lol

 

[madhatguy]

Yeah, way too young lol. I've had a lot of fun on the internet over the years and although I really think I would've been much better off without it, it's kind of a part of me at this point.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I had no internet when I was child because there was no internet yet. Only when I was a teen we applied for internet when it became available via modem from home in the mid 90's of the past century. My access was never restricted.

 

[internetgirl]

wish I had been restricted to be honest. exposed to stuff that messed me up, which I used to laugh at but realizing it literally did irreversible damage to my development kinda hurts me still

 

[Ultracheese]

I find it weird that so many people of my generation (I'm 18) who had unrestricted internet access had most of their memories of that based on gore/porn. I remember I would see kids watch that at school sometimes. I count myself very fortunate that I never had any of those experiences. My memories of unrestricted internet access are very positive. I loved music and having two parents who weren't as passionate about it was hard for me. Kids at school only listened to stuff on the radio. With the internet, I was able to discover so many bands and different genres of music, it was like a playground for me. Same with things like books and movies and art. Being online was my only escape from being abused, and I'm thankful I had such positive experiences. I count myself very lucky that I didn't get exposed to a lot of dangerous content and people like a lot of kids have.

 

[winamp]

I remember I would see kids watch that at school sometimes.

yeah I found it weird people were doing that too (I'm 20) since social media was at its peak and you could post anything online so you would think they would just share stuff instead of watching it publicly

and I hate the people who did that because in middle school that was the reason why we got our phones taken away and the reason why we couldn't have unlimited bathroom breaks

 

[honeydew]

i would consider it pretty restricted. i was allowed to use the internet during the day, but i had an app that would show my parents my search history and stuff, so what i could do on it was pretty limited lol

my mom would also go through my phone at night. i didnt even know until one morning she yelled at me about something someone else said in a text.

 

[(¥)]

once unresistricted. got in troublr for watvhing a "+13" video story with fake blood. with children toys as characters in the story. thought it was funny. parents hated it. restricted until 14. tramatising. could not feel normal hearing/reading tame curse words. manga was allowed, strangely.

 

[enough of this]

There WERE no computers as we know them, when I was a child. There wasn't even stereo.

 

[unrest]

i had absolutely no restriction when it came to the internet which was a blessing and a curse

 

[loopdaloop]

Unrestricted and unsupervised. Honestly i mostly just used it for gaming as a child, but it probably hindered a lot my social skills irl

 

[TransilvanianHunger]

I started using the Internet in my teens. Didn't have unrestricted access because it was a dial-up connection and I couldn't just use the phone line whenever I felt like it, but it was totally unsupervised. I did see my fair share of messed up stuff online, but it wasn't something I spent a lot of time on. Just weird or shocking sites that would get passed around here and there. Instead, I got into various tech-related subjects and ended up joining a handful of forums where I met some nice people. Overall, I'd say my online experience as a teenager was pretty positive.

 

[H.O.Xan]

No. There was a period where it was fairly unrestricted but there was always a risk of my parents scrutinizing my search history or looking over my shoulder. Then when I was a young adult my Dad maintained some draconian filters and restrictions. At one point, it wouldn't let me look at any webpage that had the word "girl" on it.

On the other hand, I did have enough freedom to be essentially raised by a few YouTubers. I'm thankful for that to this day. I would have been even more sheltered and naive if I hadn't been allowed to watch YouTube.

Yoooo. What?! Did u ever work ur way around that setback? How r u now? Would u b more developed if u were allowed a bit more freedom?

 

[lachrymost]

Yoooo. What?! Did u ever work ur way around that setback? How r u now? Would u b more developed if u were allowed a bit more freedom?

I was able to circumvent it to some extent sometimes. I realized my Mom used the same password for everything, so I logged into her account and used it until she caught me. I wish I'd had more breathing room. The result is that I struggle with this feeling that they're always watching me, even now. I don't live with them anymore but I still rely on them because of my disabilities, so I don't have as much privacy as I would like even today. There's no good solution as long as I'm alive, really. But it's far from the biggest issue in my life and I'd be screwed without them.

 

[Gloomislost]

Yes I did!! And that lead me to watching and viewing a lot of weird stuff as a kid. Oddly enough, it was mostly anime and pony related.

 

[winamp]

Yes I did!! And that lead me to watching and viewing a lot of weird stuff as a kid. Oddly enough, it was mostly anime and pony related.

coincidentally I remembered that video/series yesterday

the pony.mov series what a strange time to be on the Internet

 

[Gloomislost]

coincidentally I remembered that video/series yesterday

the pony.mov series what a strange time to be on the Internet

Yeah lol, I honestly still go back to those videos for Nostalgia.

 

[delora]

I'd say from 10-11 years old onward, I was online completely unsupervised.

I guess it was both good and bad when it comes to my development. I learned many things and found a distraction from the horrible environment I grew up in. I probably wouldn't have been able to get away from my abusive mother if it wasn't for the internet, because of how manipulative she is. I'd still be stuck thinking it was my fault.

But I was also exposed to so much age-inappropriate content. Shock and gore websites, toxic communities, predators, and the list goes on. Doesn't help that I'd pretend to be older online to avoid being kicked out of spaces or patronized.

I don't regret it, but sometimes I do wonder what I would be like if I hadn't had access to all of this from such a young age.

 

[day]

I was on the internet since I was around 7yrs old. Definitely found myself in dodgy areas at times and talked to a lot of older guys that tbh I can't tell if they were weird or not but I'd assume so.

But I've never really been restricted as I was the only one to really know the internet well in my family.

 

[LostinCyberspace]

Yes, my father would always punish me because I liked to play violent flash games growing up.

 

[Tesha]

Does watching Betamax tapes count?