The news recently aired a story about Facebook and their attempts to determine how many members are below 13 years of age. According to its laws, people under 13 are not allowed to have an account. Nevertheless, the study found that there are approximately 7.5 million underage Facebook users and about 5 million are under the age of 10. The story, which was obtained from ABC.com, also included the First Lady’s opinion in regards to Facebook and its underage users.
The video which showed a sound byte of Michelle Obama stating that her children will not be on Facebook any time soon, also weighed in on the ideas of “pre-teens” (their word) having accounts on social networking sites as a whole. ABC’s own poll found that many parents felt that the appropriate age for obtaining an account was at 15. The video also interviewed a sixteen year old whose mother refused to allow her to be on Facebook until she was 18. Lastly, the video made light of the fact that 43% of parents surveyed did not want their children to have a social networking account until they were adults was at great odds with the 7.5 million underage users.
This article and video puts a huge question on the use of social networking sites and tweens. It is apparent that many underage young adults do have accounts, but is this appropriate? The video also interviewed Parry Aftab, an internet privacy and security attorney, who suggested that young adults with a balanced social life (those who have outside friends, outdoor activities, and so forth) would be more capable of responsibly using a social networking site.
Aftab’s statements can also be seen as an agreement to Anna Goodstein’s ideas that young adults need a creative outlet, one where they can experiment with their identity, and express themselves. Nevertheless, parenting is based upon individual values and expectations. Interestingly the comments for this article cites parents who refuse to allow tweens to have an account, to parents who monitor use, to parents who give their children carte blanche. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I do agree with Aftab, that a look at the individual is important to consider.
Resources
ABCnews.com. (2011). Underage Facebook members: 7.5 million users under age 13.
Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/underage-facebook-members-75-million-users-age-13/story?id=13565619
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