I know how this sounds, but remove or limit the social aspect of Scratch.

AU-Ratcatcher

Look, I get that Scratch allows communication to improve projects and coding, but I’d argue that the social aspect has done more harm than good. Many people (including me) have been exposed to trolls who post offensive and hurtful content, or inappropriate images (because, hello, there’s a camera feature/upload images button. Why? That’s just asking for trouble)

Yes, I understand, there’s always the report button. But there is plenty of offensive content or trolls that just come back or get entirely ignored.

Plus, even if the bad stuff IS removed, that doesn’t undo potential trauma/emotional impact of being exposed to things you shouldn’t. Then what? You have that in your life because of Scratch? This website is essentially social media for kids, and it needs to be changed.

I mean no disrespect to any workers on Scratch. I am simply stating some major issues, and why they should be fixed.

“hi!”
- Me

AU-Ratcatcher

And, please, Scratch Team. Don’t respond to this with a “solution” that just ignores everything I just said and does absolutely nothing, I’ve seen this happen on many forums.

“hi!”
- Me

plantskym2

So what do you suggest? Remove social actions, remove comments, remove sharing projects, removing uploading images, remove text, remove everything? While you're at it, might as well remove all the drawing tools, as you can draw inappropriate things. Or remove what? Because all of those can be inappropriate or turn scratch into a social media.

Last edited by plantskym2 (May 15, 2024 23:08:17)

This is my forum signature! On a forum post, it is okay for Scratchers to advertise in their forum signature. The signature is the stuff that shows up below the horizontal line on the post. It will show up on every post I make. (Credits to ZaChary) My signature thankfully hasn't been eaten by an evil kumquat yet, so I hope it remains that way. My 100th post!! Be sure to follow after watching my animations!!
Please note that I may sometimes give out incorrect information.
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INSERT-USER_NAME

If all social features were removed, (uploading projects, profiles, basically making the entire website just the editor) there'd be no need to remove the ability to upload images, because the only person seeing uploaded images is “you”
and people who happen to be physically in the room with you but that's a given

consider posting here maybe?
hey guys

rdococ

I assume you mean removing everything except sharing projects, but it would still be very detrimental. Many, many people collaborate on studios, projects, assets, etc. through comments and the forums, and I don't really see the point in stopping their fun just because of a few trolls.

Last edited by rdococ (May 15, 2024 23:23:38)

The royal blue colour scheme. Be aesthetic

Za-Chary

Specifically what counts as a “social aspect” that should be removed/limited? If not outright removed, in what ways should these “social aspects” be limited?

This is my forum signature! On a forum post, it is okay for Scratchers to advertise in their forum signature. The signature is the stuff that shows up below the horizontal line on the post. It will show up on every post I make.

I was a Scratch Team member from May 10th 2019 to October 29th 2021.

my notebook | scratch team essay | accessibility essay

p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-

Za-Chary wrote:
Specifically what counts as a “social aspect” that should be removed/limited? If not outright removed, in what ways should these “social aspects” be limited?

AU-Ratcatcher wrote:
(because, hello, there’s a camera feature/upload images button. Why? That’s just asking for trouble)

New!

Za-Chary

p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p- wrote:
Za-Chary wrote:
Specifically what counts as a “social aspect” that should be removed/limited? If not outright removed, in what ways should these “social aspects” be limited?
AU-Ratcatcher wrote:
(because, hello, there’s a camera feature/upload images button. Why? That’s just asking for trouble)

This doesn't answer my questions, because it doesn't explain what is a “social aspect” is (the OP implies that “social aspects” involve more than inappropriate images), and it also doesn't explain how any “social aspects” should be limited. If the OP was only interested in removing the camera feature, I assume they would have titled/described their suggestion as such.

Last edited by Za-Chary (May 15, 2024 23:42:28)

This is my forum signature! On a forum post, it is okay for Scratchers to advertise in their forum signature. The signature is the stuff that shows up below the horizontal line on the post. It will show up on every post I make.

I was a Scratch Team member from May 10th 2019 to October 29th 2021.

my notebook | scratch team essay | accessibility essay

AU-Ratcatcher

Za-Chary wrote:
p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p- wrote:
Za-Chary wrote:
Specifically what counts as a “social aspect” that should be removed/limited? If not outright removed, in what ways should these “social aspects” be limited?
AU-Ratcatcher wrote:
(because, hello, there’s a camera feature/upload images button. Why? That’s just asking for trouble)
This doesn't answer my questions, because it doesn't explain what is a “social aspect” is (the OP implies that “social aspects” involve more than inappropriate images), and it also doesn't explain how any “social aspects” should be limited.

Literally the fact that kids are able to interact with strangers on the internet

“hi!”
- Me

Za-Chary

AU-Ratcatcher wrote:
Literally the fact that kids are able to interact with strangers on the internet

Unfortunately the entire purpose of the Scratch website is to do this through sharing projects. Are you suggesting that the entirety of the community aspect, including sharing projects, should be removed? This effectively reduces Scratch to only being an offline editor.

Last edited by Za-Chary (May 15, 2024 23:43:49)

This is my forum signature! On a forum post, it is okay for Scratchers to advertise in their forum signature. The signature is the stuff that shows up below the horizontal line on the post. It will show up on every post I make.

I was a Scratch Team member from May 10th 2019 to October 29th 2021.

my notebook | scratch team essay | accessibility essay

p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-

Za-Chary wrote:
p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p- wrote:
Za-Chary wrote:
Specifically what counts as a “social aspect” that should be removed/limited? If not outright removed, in what ways should these “social aspects” be limited?
AU-Ratcatcher wrote:
(because, hello, there’s a camera feature/upload images button. Why? That’s just asking for trouble)
This doesn't answer my questions, because it doesn't explain what is a “social aspect” is (the OP implies that “social aspects” involve more than inappropriate images), and it also doesn't explain how any “social aspects” should be limited. If the OP was only interested in removing the camera feature, I assume they would have titled/described their suggestion as such.

From what I have interpreted from the post, an example of a social aspect that should be limited is the freedom a user has within a project, and the way to limit this would be to remove the camera/record feature. If I remember correctly, though, this was already removed a year or two ago.

Edit: Here it is: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/513228/

Last edited by p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p- (May 15, 2024 23:48:22)

New!

p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-

Za-Chary wrote:
AU-Ratcatcher wrote:
Literally the fact that kids are able to interact with strangers on the internet
Unfortunately the entire purpose of the Scratch website is to do this through sharing projects. Are you suggesting that the entirety of the community aspect, including sharing projects, should be removed? This effectively reduces Scratch to only being an offline editor.

There are plenty of “child” social medias that prevent the children from having access to potentially malicious strangers. I don’t quite know how they do it, or whether scratch would be able to implement it without contradicting their morals (for example, privating accounts), but I do know it exists.

New!

plantskym2

Za-Chary wrote:
AU-Ratcatcher wrote:
Literally the fact that kids are able to interact with strangers on the internet
Unfortunately the entire purpose of the Scratch website is to do this through sharing projects. Are you suggesting that the entirety of the community aspect, including sharing projects, should be removed? This effectively reduces Scratch to only being an offline editor.

THANK YOU!! That's what I'm saying!! You can't just remove part of scratch saying it is a social media, you would then have to remove the entire site besides the offline editor.

This is my forum signature! On a forum post, it is okay for Scratchers to advertise in their forum signature. The signature is the stuff that shows up below the horizontal line on the post. It will show up on every post I make. (Credits to ZaChary) My signature thankfully hasn't been eaten by an evil kumquat yet, so I hope it remains that way. My 100th post!! Be sure to follow after watching my animations!!
Please note that I may sometimes give out incorrect information.
Ever wondered why your project wasn't showing up in the search bar or on trending? Here is an explanation why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p1zLeGoXLQ

AU-Ratcatcher

plantskym2 wrote:
Za-Chary wrote:
AU-Ratcatcher wrote:
Literally the fact that kids are able to interact with strangers on the internet
Unfortunately the entire purpose of the Scratch website is to do this through sharing projects. Are you suggesting that the entirety of the community aspect, including sharing projects, should be removed? This effectively reduces Scratch to only being an offline editor.
THANK YOU!! That's what I'm saying!! You can't just remove part of scratch saying it is a social media, you would then have to remove the entire site besides the offline editor.

At the very least, there are lots of things that need to be changed. It’s not great the way it is

“hi!”
- Me

p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-

Unfortunately it is very hard to let the good people in and keep the bad people out. If you feel unsafe or feel others may be unsafe, you can reccomend that they use the offline editor or use it yourself, but unfortunately that’s the most scratch can do.

New!

Za-Chary

p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p- wrote:
There are plenty of “child” social medias that prevent the children from having access to potentially malicious strangers. I don’t quite know how they do it, or whether scratch would be able to implement it without contradicting their morals (for example, privating accounts), but I do know it exists.

Without any concrete examples, I am inclined not to believe you. I did a quick search and found a couple that involve things like parental controls and parental involvement, but I feel like “parental controls” would be a separate suggestion, and either way that does not completely eliminate the problem of “Literally the fact that kids are able to interact with strangers on the internet” that OP described.

This is my forum signature! On a forum post, it is okay for Scratchers to advertise in their forum signature. The signature is the stuff that shows up below the horizontal line on the post. It will show up on every post I make.

I was a Scratch Team member from May 10th 2019 to October 29th 2021.

my notebook | scratch team essay | accessibility essay

p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-

Za-Chary wrote:
p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p- wrote:
There are plenty of “child” social medias that prevent the children from having access to potentially malicious strangers. I don’t quite know how they do it, or whether scratch would be able to implement it without contradicting their morals (for example, privating accounts), but I do know it exists.
Without any concrete examples, I am inclined not to believe you. I did a quick search and found a couple that involve things like parental controls and parental involvement, but I feel like “parental controls” would be a separate suggestion, and either way that does not completely eliminate the problem of “Literally the fact that kids are able to interact with strangers on the internet” that OP described.

There’s this one tiktok app but for kids, and I think every video has to go through moderation before it can be published, and no commenting is allowed. Again, definitely not feasible for scratch, but I think that’s what the OP is inching towards.

Edit: it’s called Zigazoo.

Last edited by p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-p- (May 16, 2024 00:00:09)

New!

ajskateboarder

For as long as you are able to share projects to Scratch, Scratch will always have social aspects

Vetzlan

So basically, you want to remove 95% of Scratch's features.

Amazing! Amazingly horrible.

There's a whole community of at least a million daily active users, and I think that this is way too drastic to accommodate all of them.

Maybe you've had a fair share of bad experiences with some people, and that's understandable, I feel pretty bad for you, but oh, God, I never thought I'd say this, use Contact Us if things get really bad.

Last edited by Vetzlan (May 16, 2024 02:22:04)

"You win some, you lose some. Except for me. I always win."
- Unknown

preshunk3

No. Limiting the social aspects of a society to “fix them” is not a viable solution. Reasons include but are not just limited to:

Harder times with collaboration: If social aspects of this platform are limited, there will be less possibility of working with another scratcher on a project.

Less possibility for feedback on projects: This is self explanatory. Creators, big or small, deserve at least some feedback or credit for what they've done. Taking away certain social features could limit this.

Saying that this website is “essentially social media for kids” is a bit dramatic. We have to remember that the ST is trying their hardest, and are funded purely by donations. They aren't robots, and cannot react to inappropriate media as soon as it is released.

Also, it isn't entirely bad for a kid to be talking to someone on here since this site already limits the use of offsite links

Last edited by preshunk3 (May 16, 2024 02:24:25)

i have preshrunk several times today

Pretendo: (Wii u) preshunk3

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