By Casey Barkan

The other day, while I was scrolling on TikTok, I came across a video of two girls who posted a dance they made to the new Olivia Rodrigo song. What caught my attention wasn’t the video, it was actually a comment left by a creator named Harlie Woods: “Be SO careful on the internet! If someone messages you here, tell your grown-ups. Do not give anyone any info about your age, your school, your name, etc. know that mean comments are the fault of the algorithm getting the audience wrong, not anything you did wrong. Enjoy creating! You’re great at it, and will love looking back at these. Please let someone know if you’re getting bullied, even if you don’t think it’s a big deal. It adds up when you get views this high. If your grown ups have any questions about content creation and supporting your passion, they are more than welcome to reach out to me!”

Ask most people what comment sections are like, and they’ll probably tell you the same thing. That they’re toxic, hostile, and not worth reading. That reputation isn’t entirely wrong, but it’s actually more distorted than a lot of people realize. A Stanford University study that was published in December 2025 found that Americans estimate 43% of Reddit users post toxic comments. The real number is about 3%. A small group of highly active accounts is responsible for most of the harmful content online, but because algorithms amplify negativity, it looks like everyone is doing it. The result of this is that most people assume the internet is a lost cause and don’t bother trying to contribute anything better. The toxic minority ends up filling the space that everyone else abandoned.

Kids posting online for the first time might not have a real understand of who is watching it. A dance video that was posted for friends can end up landing in front of thousands of strangers overnight and most young creators don’t think twice about what personal information is visible in their profile, their captions, or even the background of their videos. They don’t know that someone messaging them with a compliment might not have good intentions. They might not know that sharing their school name or their age in a comment is enough information for the wrong person to act on.

Harlie Woods saw something that most people scroll past and decided to say something. Being a positive voice online isn’t necessarily about having a large audience or a sense of responsibility, it’s just about being deliberate with what you add to a space when you’re in it. For example, leaving a safety reminder for young creators who may not know who is watching. The Stanford study also found that when people learned the real numbers, that toxic users are a tiny minority, they immediately felt better about other people and about the internet in general. Most people actually want less harmful content online. They just assume everyone else doesn’t. That assumption is what keeps them quiet. You don’t need a platform or a following to do what Harlie Woods did. You just have to decide not to scroll past.

Conversation Starters

  1. Do you have any positive role models that you follow online?
  2. Have you seen negativity in comment sections?
  3. How does this make you feel?
  4. How can you be a positive influence for people on the internet?

Learn More

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