u/Alternative-Ask

I got the idea while listening to a podcast about some countries barring children from accessing social media.

What if there was a social media platform that was only for children. Therefore no rapists, sex traffickers, scammers, AI slop, etc. All posts and messages made for actual kids by actual kids.

There would be two apps. The main app installed on the child's phone and the parents' app on the parent or guardian's phone. The only functions of the parents' app would be to create an account for your child and to approve new friends for their child.

In order to create an account for your child, he/she must be under 16 years old and the parent must provide a birth certificate to verify his/her age.

On the day that your child turns 16, he/she will no longer be allowed to add new friends but they will be able to continue talking to younger friends. All conversations with older friends will be backed up and able to to be exported to another messaging app when both children are over 16.

In order to add a new friend, the child will scan a QR code on their friend's phone (think Venmo or Snapchat). After both childrens' parents approve the friend request in the parents' app the kids will be able to message each other freely (By using this method, kids will not be able to add anyone that they don't already know)

The two main functions of the app will be an address book and a messenger.

ADDRESS BOOK

• When a parent creates a profile for their kid, any info that they input about their child (their phone number, address, age, birthday, hobbies, school) will be saved to a .vcf file.
• When a child makes a new friend on the app, their contact files will automatically be shared into one another's address books.

MESSENGER

• Children will be able to message each other through the app (think Telegram or WhatsApp)
• Children will only be able to message people that they already have saved as friends

The app will also have TikTok or Instagram esque functions. Children will only be able to view posts uploaded by someone who is already saved as their friend. They will be able to like and comment on posts, and they will be able to view and reply to comments. Children will be able to see and reply to all comments made on a post but they will not be able to click on a commenter's profile unless he/she is already their friend.

Thoughts/ideas. I am not a programmer so I don't know how realistic or successful this would be.

In this day and age, it should be easy for people to find jobs thanks to the internet. Employers post jobs on their internal careers pages and people apply for them. The job seeker is under the impression that they will be called back within 5-10 business days. 

Whenever I have been asked to attend an interview, there are usually two ways that a company schedules them. Either they will call the person and schedule a direct date and time (the honest way), or they will outsource the scheduling process to another website that is not controlled by the company. Whenever that happens, the applicant will either select a date and time to select to be called over the phone by the company (not a great system, but okay) or select a date and time and be given an address to go to for an in person interview (a broken system). The address is likely provided by the company, but they may be able to just pull the address of sites like Google Maps.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to schedule an interview that way, and the address I was given was onluy the general address of the company, not the specific building or floor. I got lost trying to find the company as I wasn’t told where in the complex they were. When I arrived at the company, they had no idea that someone was scheduled to come in and interview for a job. The receptionist told me to just sit and wait. 

After half an hour passed beyond the time I was scheduled to interview, I went back to the receptionist’s desk and asked where the person I was supposed to interview with was. All she told me was that “he was busy”. This instance cemented in my head the idea that the interview system is broken at any company that uses this software. I do not know the name of the software that these companies use. But it would be improved drastically if the comapnies could allow it to only be able to schedule interviews at certain times, those times constantly updated by the company.

Job seekers like myself should not be allowed to schedule an interview at a time when they are busy. Whilst the internet has improved our lives in many ways, this is not one of them. 

When scheduling an interview the honest way (by doing it over the phone) I have either been able to interview with them right then and there, schedule a time to have another phone call, or schedule a time to actually come in and have the interview in person. By having the address of the building and directions of how to get there be given out over the phone by a person who already works there, I am unable to get confused or lost on the way there. 

I find that talking with someone on the phone rather than just filling out an online form makes me feel more connected to the company and the people who are already part of it.

However, once I actually interview with the employer and tell them that I am still in college and what my class schedule looks like, they seem to not want to accommodate for it. I understand that many positions require the employee to work a certain shift that starts and ends at specific times on certain days, but they could at least put those days and times in the job description. That way, the company wouldn’t recieive as many applications from people unavailable at those times, and they wouldn’t have to interview as many people. Companies could weed out some of the applicants that are unavailable at those times, on those specific days of the week before they even apply for the job (some companies already do and again, I applaud them for it).

But most of my job applications have never even gotten to the interview stage. While some employers will call back the applicant with the intent to schedule an interview (and I applaud those employers for doing so), many either wait several weeks or months to call back. And that is if they even call back at all. 

Some employers will send the applicant an automated email message saying something along the lines of “We appreciate your interest in the position and we wish you all the best in your job search”. Sometimes these messages are sent after a few days (giving the applicant the impression that their application was at least looked at, whilst others send the automated reply immediately after the application was submitted (making the applicant believe that their application was never even looked at). 

When something like this happens, I want to believe that the company simply just found the right person to fill the position. However, I am more inclined to believe that the position never existed in the first place. 

While I personally believe that companies should not be allowed to post job listings unless they are actually hiring, the wider world does not feel that way.

Over the last few months, I have come to believe that companies post job listings for postions that they do not intend to fill either to appear to investors that the company is expanding, or (more likely in my point of view) collect people’s personal data in a way that they can then use it to sell them things or if not, then sell it off to other companies that will. 

In conclusion, I have come to believe that the current job market creates unnecessary stress and barriers for job seekers like me, especially as a 22-year-old college student on the autism spectrum. Online job applications and third-party interview scheduling systems often mislead applicants, causing confusion and wasted effort. The lack of clear communication, delayed or nonexistent callbacks, and the possibility of positions that may not even exist all contribute to a frustrating experience. Until employers adopt systems that are more transparent and considerate of applicants’ time and circumstances, the job application process will remain discouraging for many people my age trying to enter the workforce, even the ones who aren’t on the autism spectrum.