Is There Really Any Point?
I Just Don't Know Anymore
I’ve been blogging for over a decade.
I’ve written about my reasons for doing it more times than I can count. The toll it takes. The mental load of staying across some of the darkest corners of the internet so parents don’t have to. The relentlessness of it. And yes, the question that surfaces more and more often these days: is any of this actually landing?
This week, I’m asking it louder than usual. I needed to write this down.
What I’m actually doing here
I’m not a lifestyle blogger. I’m not selling a product or building a personal brand for its own sake. I write about child online safety, the grooming tactics, the predatory platforms, and the apps hiding in plain sight on your child’s phone. It’s not light reading. It doesn’t go viral. The algorithm doesn’t care about it, and likely, it never will.
Short-form content, like reels and YouTube shorts, works brilliantly for a lot of creators. For me, the topics need nuance. They need context. A fifteen-second Reel doesn’t adequately explain why a child talking to what they believe is a peer online might actually be communicating with an adult who has spent months earning that trust. So I write. I research. I try to make it readable, informative, without being clinical, serious, without being paralysing.
And then I wait.
The silence
I’ve been trying to get this content in front of people with platforms. Parents themselves, educators, and people who talk about keeping families safe. People who, on paper, would have every reason to share a message like this. I tag them. I see that they’ve read the post. And then... nothing. Not even a quiet ‘not for me.’ Just a solid ignore. The worst part? It would cost them nothing to share or comment.
I don’t say this to shame anyone. People with large followings get asked to share things constantly, and I’m one voice in a very long queue. I understand the vicious circle too; without amplification, the algorithm buries me. Without the algorithm, I can’t reach new parents. Without reaching new parents, I can’t do the one thing I built this platform to do.
I get all of that.
But silence has a way of getting very loud when you’re doing this alone. And some weeks, it’s a hard thing to sit with.
So what keeps me here?
Honestly? You do.
The small number of you who take the time to get in touch and tell me that what I write actually helps. That the information I put out is genuinely useful, things you wouldn’t normally come across, framed in a way that makes it possible to sit down with your child and have a conversation you might otherwise have avoided, or not known how to start.
Those messages are fuel. They’re not frequent. But they’re real. And they matter more than I think I’ve ever properly said.
⚡Please don’t forget to react & restack if you appreciate my work. More engagement means more people might see it. ⚡
The thing I can’t switch off
There’s something else. Harder to articulate.
If I stop, I worry about what that means, not for my reach or my subscriber numbers. For the children I haven’t reached yet. The ones whose parents are one post away from knowing what to look for, or what to do, or how to start the conversation.
I know what the information gap costs because I’ve seen its consequences up close. That knowledge doesn’t switch off when you leave the service or close the laptop. It sits with you. And when I think about stopping, it’s there.
If I’m the person with that information, and I stop sharing it, and something happens that I might have prevented?
I don’t think I could live with that. Maybe that’s not entirely rational. But it’s honest.
The Childline piece
All subscription income from this blog goes directly to Childline. That matters deeply to me. Stopping would mean less going to a charity that is genuinely there for children in crisis, and while I’d continue to donate personally, it wouldn’t be the same.
So here I am. In the messy middle. Not ready to quit. Not sure how to keep going. Frustrated with a system that rewards noise over substance, and tired of doing this alone when the message is this important.
But still here.
And if you’ve ever read something on this blog and thought I needed that, please share it. Not for me. For the parent in your network who doesn’t know what I know yet.
As always, thank you for your support. Please share this across your social media, and if you do have any comments, questions, or concerns, then feel free to reach out to me, as I am always happy to spend some time helping to protect children online.
Remember that becoming a paid subscriber means supporting a charity that is very close to my heart and doing amazing things for people. Childline, I will donate all subscriptions collected every six months, as I don’t do any of this for financial gain.
If you or a child you know needs support:
Childline: 116 000 | childline.org.uk
Available 24/7, 365 days a year. Free, confidential, and here for every child.
Yes there is a point even if you can’t see it at every moment - there must be people who stay safe due to your advice. Keep going !
Appreciate your work Dale ! I know all too well how dangerous and predatorial online spaces are for children and how it goes unnoticed by parents due to the information gap. A lot of parents don't know how to handle such situations if they ever come across it and I think you do a wonderful job in presenting them with realistic options and methods to navigate such a senstitive topic