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NPR Podcast Comment Section Becomes Unexpected Hangout for Kids
Confirmed
In Short: Parents have long tried to keep their children off social media, leading some kids to find an unlikely alternative: the comment section of an NPR podcast.
Host Ira Glass of NPR's podcast 'This American Life' recently shared the story of how the team behind the podcast 'Wild Card' noticed a flood of unusual comments under their Spotify episodes last fall.
The comment section of 'Wild Card' became a place for middle schoolers, too young for social media, to chat freely.
When asked why they chose this podcast, one child explained, 'We just, like, looked for podcasts that didn't have many comments,' which left Glass somewhat disappointed.
Initially, the podcast team thought the comments might be from bots, but they soon realized it was a group of young people using the space to communicate.
The kids were likely seeking a platform where they could socialize without adult supervision or restrictions.
The podcast team is now grappling with how to handle such unexpected interactions in the future.
What's confirmed
- Host Ira Glass of NPR's podcast 'This American Life' recently shared the story of how the team behind the podcast 'Wild Card' noticed a flood of unusual comments under their Spotify episodes last fall.
- The comment section of 'Wild Card' became a place for middle schoolers, too young for social media, to chat freely.
- When asked why they chose this podcast, one child explained, 'We just, like, looked for podcasts that didn't have many comments,' which left Glass somewhat disappointed.
- Initially, the podcast team thought the comments might be from bots, but they soon realized it was a group of young people using the space to communicate.
- The kids were likely seeking a platform where they could socialize without adult supervision or restrictions.
- The podcast team is now grappling with how to handle such unexpected interactions in the future.
What's still developing
- Parents have spent years trying to keep their kids off social media, so some kids headed to the one place no adult would think to look for them: NPR.
- In a new episode of This American Life, host Ira Glass digs into how the kids landed there and why.
- But it mostly boils down to kids getting creative to work around the restrictions placed on them.
- Initially, showrunner Dave Blanchard thought the comments were a particularly odd strain of bot.