Should teenagers bait?

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Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:07 am

An interesting bit of Eater history:

Eater was first conceived as an outlet for teens and pre-teens to keep them away from drugs and off the streets. Sort of like an online community center, but with no bathrooms to clean. Originally, all we had were a few virtual bumper pool tables, a virtual dart board, and a counselor bot.

The whole baiting thing was a completely unintended consequence started by a clique of young soccer thugs who came here to brag about how brave they were to have mustered up enough courage to answer a scam email. Eventually, it became something of a game of one-upmanship and took on a life of its own. Funding dried up for keeping the virtual felt on the bumper pool tables and the virtual darts all got lost.

The rest is history, except that a handful of the kids that came here for that oasis of wholesomeness and sanctuary from evil temptations are still kicking around. In that sense, I guess the site did what it set out to do in the first place… at least for a few would-be hooligans.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:01 am

Gotta keep you regular luckey...miss your wooden features... Laughing

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:54 am

I heard Shiver was only 15 when he started this site.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:08 am

@Badger: Thar's your response? More fiber? Confused

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 4:26 pm

^^ It's on his mind, for some reason. Laughing

Can teens bait? Yes - very well indeed if Olly and Mortal are the example.
Should teens bait? Yes if they want to, AND if they are mature enough to understand the risks involved and ensure safety is maintained. A bait does not have to involve nudity and/or profanity - some of the best ones I've read didn't. I personally would advise that any teens wanting to take up baiting discuss it first with their parents/guardians and show them the site, even if only to give them peace of mind about their new activity. It may also help to make them more aware, and spread the message. I would also want to be sure that they didn't hold any racist misconceptions about the activity.

Re the site - regardless of age, anyone coming here and taking a look around should quickly get an idea of what it's about, and the kind of things that may crop up. If they don't like it, they can leave. If they like it, they can stay. If they're not sure - try it for a while but be sensible ie don't click on NSFW links if you know you don't like that kind of thing. The mods and admins do a good job of picking up on stray posts/links, and most posters know to follow the rules and put warnings. Parental guidance and personal responsiblity has to play a part at some point. The site has a good track record. If it keeps doing what it has been doing, there shouldn't be a problem.

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2011 9:32 pm

Its been really interesting reading your responses,
i've been in france since wednesday, so could really reply to anyone.

I agree with most of your points, and nearly all of you backed up your points with good reason Very Happy

Cheers for a good read guys