Hi quick message for any minors that see this. As an adult in fandom spaces I get a lot of minors (i dont know if theyre kids or teenagers and frankly its none of my business) wanting to befriend me fairly often. I can tell you I don't intend on harming you at all, but the thing is, you dont know that for sure, in fact, you cant be sure about the intentions of anyone on the internet, so please, for your own safety, be careful when approaching adults in fandom spaces. I'm not saying you can't interact with us, in my case you're actually welcome to interact freely with my posts! But be mindful that there's people who could harm you, and these people will take advantage of the fact that you want to approach them. So please, take care of yourself, and always keep in mind that this person you're interacting with, if they're an adult, they naturally hold a position above you, that's just how things are, you are a child, they're an adult, so don't give them the chance to take advantage of that position.
Hi, two points I felt the need to add!
First, I'm not only talking about creepy old dudes pretending to be someone else. I'm also talking about people who aren't pretending, they're just creepy. You might go "Oh, but I know this is a girl in her 20's!" For example, and yes, that could be true, doesn't make her any less of a stranger on the internet who's older than you, still is part of the group I'm talking about. This goes for anyone, even if you trust they're not lying about who they are, that doesn't mean they're any safer.
And second, please, even if you're 17, even if you believe you're "too young" to be targeted by these people, know that you're wrong. If you're a minor approaching them, no matter the age, they will take advantage of it, they don't care if you're about to turn 18 (in fact this could even be something that benefits them as an "excuse" for their behavior). Please, even if you're "almost an adult", still take care of yourself just like you would want a 13 year old to do.