Fasten your seatbelt
Real internet safety with Nichelle Hall
What does real safety look like, one that doesn’t erase agency? Dominant internet safety messaging reflects the dominant culture we live in — where youth have little agency and parents make decisions for them. From Nichelle, we learned what empowering, internet safety practices for girls ages 11-14 could look like.
My Logic School project aimed to create relevant, interesting, and accessible internet safety content on TikTok for girls online ages 11-14. I chose this age group because there has been increasing reports of online grooming for that demographic. I was motivated to do this work because the internet safety content that exists is often made for parents, based in fear, and ignores the unique and complicated ways young people use technology to socialize and find community. During my time in Logic school, I made 9 TikToks that ranged from how to spot online grooming to critiques on the current state of internet safety education.
Nichelle Hall grew up outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but now lives in Oakland, California. She works as a software engineer at Medium on the Trust and Safety team where she focuses on eliminating spam and harassment from the platform. She is curious about TikTok, language acquisition, her relationship to work, and cooking vegan recipes that genuinely taste good (not just good for vegan food). She loves to watch reality TV and pause every five minutes to give commentary.
Find Nichelle at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nichelleahall