META At any point, the advice you’re reading could be coming from someone too young to sign up for social media without parental permissions.

A Reddit user reflects on a concerning trend where young, inexperienced individuals—particularly teenagers—offer advice in a judgmental subreddit. They caution that some advice could come from people not yet old enough to have a full understanding of complex life experiences like marriage, careers, or relationships.

While acknowledging that teenagers can have insightful perspectives, the user urges others to take advice with caution and be aware of the lack of life experience behind some suggestions. Read the original story below for more insights.

‘ META At any point, the advice you’re reading could be coming from someone too young to sign up for social media without parental permissions.’

This seems like a really weird meta post, but I just wanted to warn people that Captain Sparklez, a YouTuber with a high child/teenager viewer base, spent almost a whole Trails episode talking about this sub. It’s bound to get us some new subscribers and bring up that young sub number.

It seems like it’s good for people to remember that at any point the advice they are reading regarding their 20 year marriage might just be coming from someone who isn’t even old enough to buy a drink, or shave. The thought of marriages and careers and lives being changed all because a 15 year old with no life experience told you to “get out” is actually incredibly scary to me.

This isn’t to say no 15 year old is ever going to have good advice. Honestly I knew a lot of teenagers who were more adult than any of the 30 years olds I know to this day. But it is still incredibly important to remember your advice and judgement might be coming from a high schooler. Take everything you read here with about a pound of salt, a single grain won’t do it.

I *am* the a**hole, I already know this, but being the a**hole doesn’t always mean you’re wrong. Sorry, teenagers, but I kind of wish we could give you flair to make it easier to tell if advice is coming from an adult or a child. I wouldn’t outright ignore a child’s advice, but I would also be looking at their advice differently if I knew their lack of life experience. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Just be careful everyone. And please remember this is a judgement sub, not an advice sub. This doesn’t mean we can’t give advice, but keep in mind “sub dedicated to helping others” is going to bring in a very different subscriber demographic than “sub dedicated to calling other people assholes.” I just don’t want to see lives ruined over this sub.

Here’s what Redditors had to say:

[Reddit User] −  Also don’t forget that the nature of reddit causes people to pile on to the very first few comments. a lot of posters just want to be on the “winning” side, and a 50/50 situation could look very one-sided if the top few replies lean one way.

worldxdownfall −  **” I just don’t want to see lives ruined over this sub.”** At the end of the day, you *probably* shouldn’t be taking potentially life changing advice from Reddit without sincerely weighing the consequences of said advice, regardless of the age of the person it’s coming from.

queencuntpunt −  Ok, but Reddit seems to love recommending “get out” for relationships already, even without a younger demographic.

Meloetta −  And people giving advice should keep in mind that sometimes the people asking for it are kids that are still figuring out how to be good people.

vinoestveritas −  TBH a lot of the posts here are better suited for r/relationships and the like. Whenever I see a post about a really complicated situation between them and their SO, I avoid it because a lot of the time a simple judgment isn’t enough to “solve” their issues, so to speak.

Edit: I’m not recommending that people head over to r/relationships for legitimate advice, I’m saying that this sub is harboring way too many questions where AITA isn’t even the right question.

DBAccount999 −  There was a recent post in either AITA or a relationship sub where someone posted about how his girlfriend didn’t want to have s** with him, so he took a shower and masturbated instead.

When he told his girlfriend that he had taken care of himself in the shower, she told him that he’s “disgusting and selfish” and that she doesn’t like the idea of him masturbating in their shared apartment. Both of the OP and his girlfriend were in their early 30’s.

99% of the responses were on the OP’s side, except for one guy that tried to rake the OP over the coals for his “morally questionable behaviour” and tried to argue that the OP should have a discussion with his gf over whether or not it is permissible for the OP to masturbate in their shared apartment.

It was such a bizarre response. I (and a few others) basically called the poster an i**ot, but then I looked at his post history. Turns out he was a 16 year old who spent most of his time on the “Christianity” sub. Somehow this child felt that he was well suited to be providing relationship advice to people twice his age.

seinfeld11 −  Its why i feel this whole sub has turned into r/relationships . Too many advocating for breakup immediately and calling the other person an abuser / manipulator without hearing both sides yet. if any of the problems ive had with my spouse over a decade were posted here id be considered a huge p.o.s. taken out of context.

Screye −  Yes. Also, a lot of comments would rather give the ‘moral hypothetical’ answer rather than the practical one. It seems like r/relationships in here, where every relationship is zero tolerance and one mistake means it’s game over.

I am the a**hole, I already know this, but being the a**hole doesn’t always mean you’re wrong. So much THIS. Sometimes being the a**hole is the right decision. I myself am no better. I’m a 25 year old single guy whose life is a mess.

What authority do I have to make sweeping judgements based on what is clearly an incomplete and onesided account of a both more complex and unfamiliar story. That being said, in like 80% of the cases, the situations do feel cut and dry, where there is a clear consensus and everyone but OP and people around them seem to see it for what it is.

GreatBigSteak −  NTA definitely. Those are some serious red flags. I would get out quick. Definitely ghost her an block all social media. Remove yourself from your own family for good measure.

[Reddit User] −  I don’t think anyone is leaving their SO solely at the behest of internet strangers.

Do you agree with the user’s concerns about the validity of advice from younger individuals with limited life experience? How do you approach advice from teenagers or young adults in online spaces? Share your thoughts and experiences below!