> a small fraction of kids branching off into fringe networks that are off the radar and will take them to very dark places very quickly.

I've been grappling with this all afternoon and I still cannot determine what my stance on this.

I grew up when the internet was a bit of a wildwest, and I've definitely seen things online that I wish I never had without my consent.

But there's also a bizarre thought that mayb exposure to this isn't such a bad thing because it keeps us human, and aware of privilidge and our safety - and why that is such an important thing to think about

I'd equate it at some level to seeing the inside of the production of food and being put of eating meat, or eating anything non-organic again.

I'm not sure I would like my own children to see it, but I'm hyper aware of what conflict and crime looks like as a result.

Comparatively to social media at least I was making a choice to click on something risky or that I would not like to see rather than having a algorithm choose for me. Not sure if I am just becoming a middle-aged tech dinosaur though.,

Your comment made one word immediately pop to mind - rotten? But I'm increasingly of the opinion that the 'dark stuff' on the internet isn't really the problem, so much as the seemingly innocuous stuff like people posting extremely 'select', if not outright fabricated, sections of their lives on social media. It gives people a mistaken perception of what their own life is like or what it could/should be like. Even more when this is taken to the next level with insecure kids consuming and interacting with one another in this context.

And then there's the issue with ourselves even. We pretty much all do, say, and believe dumb things when we're younger. It's just a part of growing up. But I can't imagine what life must be like if you mix this reality with social media. Not only does this then stay attached to you forever, but pretty much anything can be artificially reinforced. With both factors probably working to impair general maturation.

These are all just consequences of 'normal' things that you'd have even if we censored 100% of vice on the internet, and it's still quite awful.

When we were growing up, internet was for smart people. Chat rooms and video games were for "nerds", the "cool" people all hung out in person.

When someone wanted to do something counter-culture (i.e the *chan websites), there was actually a shared interest behind it. People would spend time making content and actually doing things on the web.

These days, internet is so ubiqutious that the majority of the users are simply consumers. There is no drive to build anything. Modern day kids aren't going to be spending time trying to figure out how to get around social media bans with technology, because most internet users simply just don't care enough to organize and build something.