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Momo

80 replies

Sophisticatedsarcasm · 26/02/2019 23:48

Got an Email today from the school telling us about this creepy internet hack that tells kids to do stuff and scares them. I asked if he’d seen it and he said yes he had but it interrupted his video and got on his nerves so turned it off straight away. I told him to not pay attention to it if he sees it again and to inform me straight away. Anyone else’s kids come across it?

OP posts:
Meandmetoo · 27/02/2019 11:10

I've taken the approach of not doing anything i wasnt normally doing. Personally I think it's irresponsible for grown ups to continue the hype by overreacting, all that will do is possibly make it something sneaky and forbidden to some kids, therefore more attractive and perpetuates the "well my mum definitely saw the video when I was on YouTube and stopped me just as I was setting fire to the house so its definitely true" bullshite

NotANotMan · 27/02/2019 11:13

There is SO MUCH nasty stuff on YouTube I can hardly believe how supposedly sensible adults are overreacting to a relatively harmless internet meme

Meandmetoo · 27/02/2019 11:17

I know! The number of people on my fb who i always thought were sensible now copying and pasting that ridiculous "be aware orels" post as if they have typed it themselves

I was due a fb cleanse anyway tbf. I'm embarrassed that I'm being tagged in this shit, I've got work mates who will see that FFS!

DamonSalvatoresDinner · 27/02/2019 11:18

I have searched and searched for this Momo game. I cannot for the life of me find it. I can find thousands of posts and news stories about it but no evidence that it's really what they say. I haven't even seen a copy of the supposed conversations someone has had with it.

It's a fucking chain letter! There's a huge hysteria about it and the so called dangers are being spread by hysterical people.

It's like that stupid Talking Angela. One setting for kids, one for adults. Adults was flirty. Suddenly I'm seeing a billion posts calling it a pedo's invention and even (and this kills me to say that people ACTUALLY FUCKING BELIEVED THIS) that a pedophile was the cat via cgi and could see you through the screen. Yes there were people on Facebook sharing that little nugget as if it were believable!

I did however see a news report today about it. The newscasters were telling us how it's encouraging children to kill themselves and in the next muttered breath they said how there had not been a single reported case of death due to this game.

Newsername · 27/02/2019 11:28

Children will only be messaged if they message a stranger’s number! Teach your kids not to add strangers into their contacts. It’s simple as the age old advice of not talking to strangers on the street!

NotANotMan · 27/02/2019 11:34

The Whatsapp thing doesn't make sense either. Are people saying that random people are sending momo messages to random phone numbers on WhatsApp in the hope of hitting upon a child who will take it seriously? If so, these messages would be going to adults' phones too wouldn't they? And I have yet to see one of these supposed messages online...
Unless it's kids spreading the texts between each other on WhatsApp? Which again...is just a 21st century chain letter. Those letters never caused anyone to die when they were sent by post. Whatsapp is no different.

needthisthread · 27/02/2019 11:37

I can hardly believe how supposedly sensible adults are overreacting to a relatively harmless internet meme

Is it a harmless meme? What about all the reports about it encouraging kids to commit suicide etc? Are these all made up?

Meandmetoo · 27/02/2019 11:39

Yes, need, yes they are.

PrawnOfCreation · 27/02/2019 11:46

Mono was on Roblox for a while.

NotANotMan · 27/02/2019 11:50

Yep
There have been a handful of child suicides that have been linked to momo by pure hearsay. The reality is that a) there is zero evidence that any of these children were exposed to any momo messages and b) suicide has many interconnecting causes and is never caused by one single factor so even if they had seen something momo related it would be completely wrong to say that was the cause, or even a causal factor, in the suicide

ContessaIsOnADietDammit · 27/02/2019 11:54

My DC can't be trusted with YouTube as they just watch video after video of shit. At least someone paid the writers of the dross on CITV Grin therefore we have blocked YouTube in our house. Simple and effective!

needthisthread · 27/02/2019 11:59

notaman

So are you saying all the news coverage etc is made up?

NotANotMan · 27/02/2019 12:12

Pretty much!
I started with rumours and Chinese whispers. Then some troll types start making videos like the kinder egg one and they get shared as examples of the original concept. There is no evidence of pop ups, hacks etc and plenty of technical explanation as to why they are impossible, in the way it has been described anyway.
There have been no child suicides conclusively or even inconclusively linked to momo. Nobody has shared screenshots of their kids getting momo messages on WhatsApp (though these would be extremely easy to fake)
'News' sites that are pretty much just blogs and links to dodgy stories that are just sites to generate ad revenue post these stories for click bait and gullible people share them. Then rags like the daily mail (who lets not forget think mumsnet threads are good copy) post them and they get a veneer of credibility.
It's all bollocks.

nothinglikeadame · 27/02/2019 12:41

Not seen any evidence of a child watching a YouTube video, and Momo poppibg up telling them to do something.

I've read on another thread posters saying they have had it hapoen to them, but I'm sorry - they are mistaken or outright lying to keep the hysteria going.

Policing you childs internet or phone use is never a bad idea though, and if this latest myth helps you tighten up on it a bit then its served some purpose.

notsurewhatshappening · 27/02/2019 12:46

I wish my friends would stop posting about it on fb. I'm tired of seeing that face on my feed now.

needthisthread · 27/02/2019 12:54

Not seen any evidence of a child watching a YouTube video, and Momo poppibg up telling them to do something.

I've read on another thread posters saying they have had it hapoen to them, but I'm sorry - they are mistaken or outright lying to keep the hysteria going.

I'm so baffled by this. Why would you not believe them simply because you hadn't experienced it?

DamonSalvatoresDinner · 27/02/2019 12:59

I watched an American news story last night warning us of the dangers.

They then said at the end that not a single death in the US has yet been found to be linked to it.

So why the stupid news story then?

Molytol · 27/02/2019 13:06

Why would you not believe them simply because you hadn't experienced it?

The same way I don't believe Bloody Mary comes through the mirror to kill children.

Meandmetoo · 27/02/2019 13:41

I don't believe it because there is zero, zero evidence that any such video exists. And as I say I think its embarassing that adults are behaving like this and perpetuating it all.

Moly, actually bloody Mary did come through the mirror and killed my friend, she told me about it. It must be true because I'm saying it is.

NotANotMan · 27/02/2019 13:41

Do you believe every improbably internet rumour you read without proof?
You need www.snopes.com in your life

ErictheGuineaPig · 27/02/2019 13:44

Because they were unable to link to a single example need.

Can I ask need, what do you think momo is? Or the person up thread who said 'momo was on roblox'. What does that actually mean? Presumably there was someone on there pretending to be momo and saying creepy/inappropriate stuff. That happens anyway on roblox - adults going on there and trying to interact with kids in a creepy and inappropriate way.

There isn't a 'momo' in the way it's being reported - like one, evil, all powerful being who can hack into your computer and force your kid to do stuff against their will. There are people who are pretending to be this made up character. Just as there have always been people pretending to be something they're not on the internet.

needthisthread · 27/02/2019 13:47

Do you believe every improbably internet rumour you read without proof?

No not at all. In fact I believe very little. This hasn't just been an Internet rumour though, it's become main stream with schools and the police sending out warnings. I haven't said I believe this. I am really confused over it and was trying to find out why people are not believing it. The poster I was directly talking to had said they didn't believe because they hadn't seen evidence, and that people who said they had seen it were lying to keep up the hype. I am baffled by the thought process there, that's all.

needthisthread · 27/02/2019 13:48

Can I ask need, what do you think momo is?

Well I thought it was what the police, schools and news channels told us it was. Then I read this thread and now I have no idea Confused

ErictheGuineaPig · 27/02/2019 13:52

That's the problem I think need. They are being really vague and also hysterical. They should be stating clearly what it is so people know what to look out for and how to avoid it - it's a prank people are playing on each other. People are supposedly saying some awful things while hiding behind it but it is just people on the Internet, not hackers, not a creepy person with powers of mind control.

Nicknacky · 27/02/2019 13:54

Haven’t The Police more been posting about general internet safety on the back of momo rather than warning of momo itself? As least that’s what’s been popping up on my fb