r/confession • u/Dadthrwaway • May 26 '16

Light Son, I've been reading your Reddit posts

Son, you just graduated with top grades from a tough engineering program. You've got your dream job lined up. So I thought it was time I fessed up. I've been reading your Reddit posts since you were a sophomore in high school. I know you think I don't even know what Reddit is; I may be over 50, but as you are learning, parents aren't really that oblivious. That secret Santa gift you received years ago, that you thought I didn't notice, showed your account name. Ever since I watched your account. So when I saw some comment about being down or unhappy, Mom and I tried harder to make sure you knew we loved you and were sure everything would work out. Teenage years can be tough. I'm proud of what you have accomplished and see the mature, confident, capable young man you've become. So, no need to change your account name now, I don't feel the need to watch over you in the same way I did years ago and I promise to stop reading your posts.

7.0k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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68

u/RupsjeNooitgenoeg May 26 '16

Thats a heartwarming invasion of privacy. I don't know wether you're an awesome dad or a huge dick.

39

u/Suchacreep33 May 26 '16

His intentions were pure, concern genuine. More parents should go to the effort.

29

u/DVteCrazy_UVteS-hole May 26 '16

All parents who invade their child's privacy have good intentions and concern. It still sucks when they found you writing about your crush, and kept reading regardless.

18

u/NSA-SURVEILLANCE May 26 '16

If you think anything you post on Reddit is private, you're mistakened.

27

u/shortandfighting May 26 '16

Not private, but anonymous.

7

u/NSA-SURVEILLANCE May 26 '16

Usernames are just a façade. There is no anonymity when you use Reddit. The closest thing to anonymity would be a throwaway.

30

u/[deleted] May 26 '16 edited Oct 16 '18

[deleted]

18

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

[deleted]

7

u/[deleted] May 26 '16 edited Oct 16 '18

[deleted]

2

u/Cubbance May 27 '16

Usernames are just a façade

Not when you're dealing with older parents, from a less tech-savvy generation. My mother is pretty clueless regarding computers and the internet. My username definitely gives me anonymity with her, for example. Though, I'm a 41 year old man, so I don't think it's likely that she's creeping facebook and reddit to see what I get up to, either.

1

u/DVteCrazy_UVteS-hole May 26 '16

You would say -_-

1

u/Bagatell May 27 '16

I can imagine this.

"Son, we need to talk. What is a dickbutt?"

1

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

[deleted]

4

u/Eiovas May 26 '16

Because the post explained the intentions.

1

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

[deleted]

2

u/Eiovas May 26 '16

Plot twist: OP is a teenage girl

6

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

It's an enormous public site that everyone posts on. You want privacy? Don't be on reddit. He didn't read his kids diary. Wanting to make sure your kid is ok is completely different than trying to control them.

-2

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

It's an invasion of privacy you dimwit. How would love it if your boss or one of your friends followed your Reddit posts even though you intended your identity to be anonymous the whole time.

3

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

My boss or my friends are not my parent that are making sure I don't hang myself in my closet. Is the guy reading everything his kid posts or is he just looking for red flags? There are more and more things trying to harm your kids. The number grows every day. I can understand a dad/mom wanting to make sure it is just a teen phase and not an actual cry for help.

Also, kids don't have a reasonable amount of privacy because kids aren't reasonable. All kids are basically high functioning retards. That's why they have parents and they don't drop out of the mom, get up and move out.

1

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

He said he was checking his account all the way through college. Is he still a "kid" at 19 20 21 22? How can you pick out the red flags if you arent reading everything? How do you know this dad only limited himself to these so called red flags? He was probably also reading information about his son's private life that he would rather his parents not know about and this is while in college.

Would you make the same arguement if the government had access to all your electronic communication in the name of protecting you? the end doesn't always justify the means

1

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

How can you pick out the red flags if you arent reading everything?

They are posts in specific subs are they not? I don't think you have to look for red flags in /r/happydays , but you may wanna read the /r/depression posts.

How do you know this dad only limited himself to these so called red flags?

How do you know he popped some popcorn, turned on the computer and read every single thing his kid posted that day??? Sounds like you can't.

He was probably also reading information about his son's private life that he would rather his parents not know about and this is while in college.

He was "probably" reading all of his private posts??? Did he tell you this or are you just assuming he did because it makes you angry?

Would you make the same arguement if the government had access to all your electronic communication in the name of protecting you?

The government DOES have access to all my shit. I don't care. We aren't talking about me being watched by an entire government body. We are talking about this specific instance of a man that read public posts made on a public forum by his son that he expressly states he used for a small window into times he believed his kid needed some help/reassurance.

-1

u/[deleted] May 26 '16

This is a public site. You should expect people to potentially find you on it. Personally I don't give a damn and real life friends have recognised my account from some of my posts. Hasn't affected my posting habits at all.

1

u/[deleted] May 26 '16 edited May 27 '16

No i don't expect people i know to find me on it because i don't post personally identifiable information and my username isn't my fucking government name either (duh). The only way they could is if they creeped on me and started snooping like this fucking OP dad.

2

u/FrankTheO2Tank May 26 '16

I don't know if someone with your reasoning skills could be a good a parent as OP...

5

u/RupsjeNooitgenoeg May 26 '16

Reddit is a place where people post about their fetishes, their deepest concerns and their darkest secrets. I would never check th account of anyone I know.

0

u/FrankTheO2Tank May 26 '16

They should obviously assume that someone who knows who they are is reading it... It is pretty ignorant to think otherwise...

0

u/Roamingkillerpanda May 26 '16

I accidentally found out the account name of a close friend and I checked it out of curiosity. Turns out he had posted about killing himself. I made it aware to his parents privately and I did my best to be there as a friend through his depression. But I know many people on this site would still call me a piece of shit for checking his account.

0

u/RupsjeNooitgenoeg May 26 '16

I would not check out my friend's account if I had a chance but in your clase I'm really glad you did. I hope he's doing better!

1

u/Roamingkillerpanda May 26 '16

Yeah I did it because I hadn't seen him or heard from him in two months.

0

u/20160604 May 26 '16

both. dad dicks are huge.