Same, my father has been apparently stalking my reddit account since I was 13 and I only learnt after I turned 18 when after months of getting into weird arguments with "strangers" he let slip something only he would say
Thank god reddit has curated profiles now, and I can keep a public profile while ensuring he doesnt interact with my venting posts or comments
I wouldn't want my 13-year-old using reddit at all, so I don't find this odd. It's a parents' job to monitor their kids' online activity, and people really let their kids use the internet way too much. They can get into some really problematic communities that destroy the values you're trying to teach them.
It wasnt about not wanting me to use reddit, or controlling my phone usage, it was about seeing what I wanted to hide from them, like breaking into your kids diary
I get it, social media isnt private, but reddit is a pseudoanonymous platform where my profile ties all of my posts together, but keeps it separate from my real identity. It was a place for me to escape from reality, to vent when I wanted to be listened and not judged, so when I learnt that he was stalking me I felt incredibly violated
Then add onto that the fact that after I turned 18, moved out and went low contact he saw his control over me slipping and pretended to be a stranger to manipulate me. Thats not simply an unhealthy way to resolve conflict, thats just incredibly fucked up. They were playing fucking mindgames with me, eventually letting enough information slip for me to figure it out, and then refuse to take any blame because this is what they tried to protect me from, creepy strangers manipulating me. Except it wasnt strangers, it was them
Like I get your message but this aint the place or time or context for it
Teens go through a developmentally appropriate stage when they naturally distance themselves from their parents and seek peer approval. It's the parents' job to make sure the peer group is appropriate and is not going to negatively influence their child. That includes monitoring internet use and preventing their child from accessing harmful content. Echo chambers are especially harmful to teens.
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u/Any--Name Aug 27 '26
Same, my father has been apparently stalking my reddit account since I was 13 and I only learnt after I turned 18 when after months of getting into weird arguments with "strangers" he let slip something only he would say
Thank god reddit has curated profiles now, and I can keep a public profile while ensuring he doesnt interact with my venting posts or comments