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Ask HN: Is scratch.mit.edu now primarily social media?

by scottcha on 8/4/21, 5:19 PM with 5 comments

Over the past few months I've noticed my child spending quite a bit more time on Scratch (including maintaining multiple accounts). I recently reviewed this and was surprised that most of the time was spent in open (and seemingly un-moderated by adults) chats. I was curious if others have noticed this morphing and have the same or other concerns?

Specifically I have two concerns:

1. My child is under 13 and they are certainly sharing private information on this site but none of their accounts required parental consent. I just opened an account with age < 13 in the US and was also not prompted for parental validation. This seems to potentially violate the Child Online Privacy Rule in the US [1].

2. Many schools encourage and facilitate the use of Scratch but at least in my child's case it seems that this has become a loophole to chat and participate in social media during school.

To see what I am referring to you can view https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/studios/all/popular and view any of those studios comments sections which are all primarily an open chat unrelated to the projects.

Scratch in the past has had some really great offerings and community events not only about coding but also about sharing and creating art. I'm disappointed to see that much of the use is not about these at all. Thoughts?

[1] https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=4939e77c77a1a1a08c1cbf905fc4b409&node=16%3A1.0.1.3.36&rgn=div5

  • by stevenicr on 8/5/21, 1:20 AM

    I've had several conversations with younger folks about sharing data online. It's not a one time thing - there are plenty of news stories to spark more conversations... sextortion.. revenge porn.. teach about meta data in pics.. teach how you could use three different conversations in which you get one bit of info from each - and put together a pinpoint location of where they will be in the world at what time (school, grade, name) -

    ransoms, ransomware - getting people to install malicious exes - there is lots to teach, sounds like you've found a place where it's time to start. Are ip addys showing up in firewalls when social scratching? another location finder.

    the kids will always find loopholes to share / chat / pornify things.. we need to teach them the ramifications of doing such.

    I recall when a little one I guard was playing minecraft on playstation one day.. I walked in and there was a giant tower, kind of looked liked bezo spaceship.. as I tried to understand what was going on - the other player added some water from the top and used a sign to write the word penis.

    I mean - you can try to limit things a bit, but there seems to always be a way to do major things with small tech connecting - I think it's best to teach them it's wrong to cheat / share answers then to try to stop every version of airdrop /bluetooth mosquito ringer - all the things.

    best to teach the ramifications of sharing certain details and know some warn words to watch out for then to try to block every social media thing, imho - and there are people who go the other way - disney circle can block a lot - and the amish have just blocked it all.

  • by orsenthil on 8/4/21, 10:35 PM

    This is equivalent of of club. Children create projects, join and learn.

    I know as a parent, it can be a little concerning. However, you can guide your children and keep a tab on their activity. If a child is doing scratch, perhaps they and their parents could program themselves for the right things.

  • by kbelder on 8/4/21, 9:16 PM

    Maybe children want social media, and if you turn scratch into a no-fun place, they'll quickly find another site to talk to friends on?

  • by ev1 on 8/4/21, 6:40 PM

    AFAIK COPPA is for the site's data collection, for example, the site collecting marketing and demographic and PII, that you can't opt out of and that the child does not understand.

    Your child sharing personal information of their own accord shouldn't be covered by this.

  • by tmaly on 8/6/21, 2:44 AM

    I have reviewed the forums on Scratch and I am not as concerned. Most kids of middle school age prefer to collaborate on projects.

    I would be more concerned if the child was using something like Snapchat on Instagram.