Kids

Types of Netizens That Kids or Teens Meet On Social Media

by Kevyn Gohu
January 17, 2023

Whether it’s for school, memes, or they’re following their favorite franchise, our kid or teen netizens will always come across these kinds of people.

We’re always wondering who our kids or teen netizens are talking to on social media. Sometimes, they can spend hours with their eyes glued to their phones while we’re struggling to hold their attention for five seconds. Because social media served as a means to meet with other people, our kids and teens meet all sorts of them — some good and some bad. Here are the kinds of people they meet on social media:

1. The Real-Life Connection

Usually, teen and kid netizens join these social media groups because their friends referred them to the group. They do this either via “invite” or through link-sharing, which they often send through the Facebook Messenger app. The invite from these real life-friends can take different shapes and forms like memes, links, articles, and even threads.

However, they need to be careful because some people can hack their social media accounts using links. It would be much better if they searched the group directly on the social media app.

2. The Gatekeeper

These people are proud of their knowledge of a certain interest, topic, or set of criteria that may make them feel that they have the authority to declare a person a part of the community or not. Hence, why they’re called “gatekeepers.” They are most commonly found in fan groups and communities (or what are commonly known as “fandoms”) and can make or break someone’s interest in a topic. Unfortunately, the toxic ones are usually the more vocal about the criteria and contribute majority to the fandom’s bad image.

3. Keyboard Warriors

These netizens love picking a fight with people especially if it involves an unpopular opinion or anything related to privilege. Sometimes, they pick a fight for the sake of having one. They also have a habit of attacking people’s characters via name-calling and pulling the victim card if the target fights back. Some social media communities may also categorize them as a sub-category of “trolls.”

Their name was derived from their weapon of choice: the keyboard.

4. The Lurkers

These are the netizens who exist in the group but rarely comment, like, or share. They choose not to interact with any of the members, preferring to observe the party in the comment section. Lurkers are also those who mimic their real-life behavior online, similar to observing from a corner of a room or listening to a conversation without offering input.

They’re quite harmless but when they start interacting, that’s when their true colors come out.

5. The Stans

The Stans is the Internet’s term for die-hard fans. They remember everything about a certain topic or series as if it were their bible. Some even wish to live in that universe. Stans unfortunately have a mixed reputation from being the most knowledgeable person to being the most obnoxious and in-your-face person. Their reactions can also be quite intense as they perceive anyone not liking their topics as a grave offense to their identity and will defend their topic or series to the Death. They don’t usually go by the name “Stan” however. Rather, they adopt the fandom’s name as their identity.

Examples include Blinks for Blackpink, ARMY for BTS, A’Tins for SB19, Potterheads for Harry Potter, and many others.

6. Trolls

When on the Internet, the rule is “don’t feed the troll.” Yet, this kind of netizen craves attention and chaos. They often post controversial topics without any proper explanation or context, cyber-bully people out of nowhere, or post offensive comments. There are two kinds of trolls: active and reactive. Some people do accept reactive trolling, depending on the context of the thread in social media. But nobody likes a troll.

It’s either you feed them or troll them back. Trolling them back however may cause a lot of stress and many of them are either experienced enough to not rise to the bait or are just paid to create a mess.

7. The Online Friend

Usually met through a common interest or person, the online friend is someone your kid or teen netizen never met in real life. However, some online friendships do progress into genuine ones especially when the one who introduced the two people was a common friend in real life. This also applies to dating apps which is why some teens would rather use the app with their friends around.

8. Sh*tposter

A source of either humor or chaos in the social media community, a sh*tposter posts controversial and disturbing topics or memes. They disguise themselves with fake names as some of the things they post may get them in real life trouble. Also known as “funposters” or “trashposters,” there are two kinds. One identified as a “funposter” or a “meme lord,” someone who just likes posting memes on social media for laughs and frequent websites like 9GAG or the Philippine version, known as PGAG. Then, there’s the trashposter who insists on starting a fight.

They often post content that’s also satirical in nature.

A child netizen with tablets in the background

There’s no denying that social media affects how our kids communicate and deal with things in real life. Some of them even claim that the social media group is more patient and willing to teach them than their parents. But like any place in society and the environment, there is a certain set of social conventions and rules to follow which are upheld by the administrator and moderators. By knowing the kind of people on social media, we’ll know how to teach our kid and teen netizens how to deal with them.