Online games are fun, but they can also be dangerous. TikToker Nessa (@imsimplynessa) found out her male best friend of over 10 years was secretly an online predator. Now, she’s warning parents about what can happen if they allow their kids to play online games without supervision.
“I know the game was originally created for children and literally was supposed to target kids under the age of 13,” Nessa said.
“But after a lot of influencers and content creators started doing let’s play videos, there are a ton of adults on the platform as well.”
For instance, there was a game called Condo that was going on for a couple of months, where people could join an apartment filled with characters who were not wearing any clothes and walking around doing inappropriate things.
“Your kid can go from playing an innocent maze game to accidentally clicking on this and being exposed to adult-themed things,” Nessa pointed out.
One day, her friend invited her to join a role-playing game on Roblox, so they made profiles to play, just for kicks and giggles. It was fun for a little while, but Nessa got over it pretty quickly.
Later, her friend introduced her to something called Bloxburg, where they built cities, malls, and houses. At one point, her friend changed his character from a male to a female.
He made his character wear provocative outfits and went up to people’s houses in the game, asking if his character looked good and if they would date him.
Nessa kept telling him to stop because it was weird, and he also risked getting banned from the game, which is exactly what happened.
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He had to make new profiles over and over again. This time, he told people that if they really wanted to see what he looked like, they could type in this handle on Instagram.
However, he gave out the handle of a girl he has hated since middle school. Nessa quit playing with him because of his behavior, and their friendship fizzled out.
After some time had passed, the friend reached out to rekindle their relationship. He addressed her previous concerns and apologized, and Nessa felt like he had changed, so she tried being friends with him again. However, when she attempted to open up about something serious, he completely ignored her.
He then proceeded to make fun of her for a domestic violence situation she had experienced in the past. Of course, she blocked him on everything.
She heard from mutual friends that he was accusing her of spinning a narrative about him online, even though she hadn’t said anything.
Later, someone who also used to be friends with him sent her a video that revealed he was a predator. He went on Facebook Marketplace and pretended to be the girl he hated from middle school.
He sent her bikini photos and other pictures to random men and boys in exchange for photos of them. He also talked to minors.
When the girl found out that her photos were being used, she pressed charges. After that, Nessa’s ex-friend deactivated all his social media, so she knew things were getting serious.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
