What is up with all these kids trying to spam Fluther with Tumblr follows?

Just ask any parent. What kid is allowed to go outside to play these days?

@HungryGuy Yeah totally scary, a bank recruiter might roll up and ask them to open up a checkings account.

Tumblr is the new way to make oneself feel “popular.” It’s no different than kids learning to play guitar or buying an expensive car.

Our youth is not more desperate than ever to be popular, they just have ways of announcing the same level of desperation to be popular to more people. And going outside is not a cure for wanting to be popular.

Makes me think of that video of a kid spazzing out about myspace.

@Aethelflaed The point of going outside is to have actual human contact and communication.

@whitetigress Hmm. Don’t you think it’s a bit harsh to jump to the conclusion that if you aren’t seeing someone in person, the contact and communication isn’t “real”? It saddens me, because then I can’t have “real” contact with my friend who’s over in Afghanistan, or the friend who moved away for a year, or the family member who lives in another state much of the time, no matter how much we Skype and chat online… Being in person is no guarantee of a deep connection with someone.

@Aethelflaed Whatever, I’m not going to sway your opinion if you don’t catch my drift.

@Aethelflaed All I know is that I have fantastic memories of being outside and playing with all the kids in my neighborhood, kickball, rollerskating, running races and running home as soon as the streetlights came on. I would hate to think of my childhood as sitting in front of a computer for hours upon hours a day.

@chyna I grew up in a neighborhood that technically had kids, but none in my age range, so going outside didn’t mean I would find any playmates. And the kids that were in the same age range stuck to their families and maybe the ones next door, but it was hardly some larger community.

I guess the Internet is, currently, what’s in for a lot of youth. I mean, if Fluther existed back when I watched Fresh Prince as if it was Jesus, and got arrested for climbing stuff, someone would have asked about it lol.