Our 11 year old posts fan fiction on a story site, and strangers comment on every chapter

willow_balcony_1627

She has been writing all through the holidays, which pleased me until I found out where it goes. She posts chapters on a fan fiction site under a made-up name, based on a fantasy series she loves. Some chapters have forty or fifty comments, mostly other readers asking for the next part. The writing is good, better than anything she has written for school. That is the difficulty. If I stop it, I take away the one thing she is doing this summer entirely on her own. If I leave it, she is in regular conversation with adults and teenagers I know nothing about. She has said I can read the stories but not the comments, which she calls private. I haven't decided anything yet. I would value hearing from parents who have dealt with this, particularly about the comments.

4 comments

  • mint_kettle_542

    Does the site let her switch off private messages? Comments under a chapter are one thing. Messages are where I'd worry.

    • willow_balcony_1627

      Good question. I asked her, and messages are switched on, but she says she has never replied to one. I have no way of knowing that without reading them, which brings me back to the same problem.

  • linen_fern_8341

    My son was on gaming forums at about the same age, so different content, same worry. We agreed I wouldn't read anything, but once a week he'd show me his profile and settings, and he'd tell me if anyone asked where he lived, which school, or wanted to move to another app. He did tell me, once. That one time made the whole arrangement worth it.

  • linen_fern_8341

    Should add: the 'move to another app' thing is the one I'd ask her to watch for above everything else. Anyone who wants to chat somewhere other than the site itself.

  • peach_quilt_5694

    i'd read the stories if she's offering. mine showed me her writing at 12 and i pointed out a spelling mistake. she hasn't shown me anything since. 16 now

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