“Dad?” I knew by my daughter’s intonation that something was amiss. “Why is this naked lady eating a huge sausage?” I didn’t get the chance to answer before her younger sister popped up, looking equally baffled. “Why is the aubergine emoji funny?” Screens emerged showing a chat app with lots of (seemingly) young kids gabbling away courteously, interrupted by a couple of trolls, keen to demonstrate their loquacious wit with four letter put-downs and a sizeable collection of porn GIFs. Let me explain.
One item I recommended in the PC Pro Christmas gift guide was the Divoom LED Bluetooth speaker (see issue 352, p26). It’s a fun device with a powerful companion app, allowing users to create vibrant designs and animations that appear on its 16 x 16 LED display. My daughters both acquired a Divoom during 2023 and happily passed time noodling away with its features. Naturally, in 2024, if you’re not sharing your life online with someone somewhere to make money out of, then you’re a loser, so the kids asked if they could upload some of their designs into the chat feature. I said yes, removing the Kids Mode restrictions.
Via the chat, you can share, rate, review and download designs to run on your own Divoom. Some designers have gained a sizeable following and, in many respects, there’s a minisocial media aspect to the
