This presentation highlights the effects of the under 16 social media ban in Australia. In my case study, I examine the Stranger Things fandom and how they interact and utilise Facebook. I use Facebook as my primary social media platform in this presentation.
Hi Oda, I enjoyed your presentation. It was a thoughtful discussion of how the under 16 social media ban in Australia could the Strangers Thing online communities and the ways fans connect online.
1. In your presentation, you suggest that the ban may weaken fan communities by excluding under 16 fans. However, how effective do you think age-based bans are in practice, given that many young people bypass restrictions through false accounts, parental access, or migration to less or unregulated platforms? Discuss whether bans solve online risks or displace them elsewhere.
2. You highlight how social media affordances enable belonging and participation within the Stranger Things fandom with the examples of groupchats with hundreds of thousands of users. If younger fans users are removed from mainstream platforms, how might this reshape power within this fandom? Could it privilege older active fans and limit younger fans’ ability to create content and cultural influence?
3. To what extent does your main argument of disruption reveal a broader generational misunderstanding of how young people use digital platforms for friendship, creativity and belonging?
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