Children of facebook

Children of Facebook

By: Kyle MillerImage via West McGowan

Facebook is a popular social networking site that has 1.1 billion users as of

May 1st, 2013

Source: Jonathan Espinosa, Facebook grows to 1.1B MAU in Q1 2013, mobile up 124 percent year-over-year

Image via James Cridland

At the age of 13,

it is legal for an individual to own and operate a Facebook accountImage via birgerking

However

Image via Caroline Bach

In 2011, it was claimed 7.5 million members of Facebook were underage

Image via James Emery Source: 2011 Consumer Reports survey

Of these 7.5 million, two-thirds were under 10 years old

Image via Tom Hickmore

“Children learn to lie about their age”

- Journalism professor Jeff Jarvis

Source: Kevin Makice, “Coming of Age in the Digital Age”Iamge via D. Sharon Pruitt

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, thinks kids under the age of 13 should be allowed on Facebook.

Source: Michal Lev-Ram, “Zuckerberg: Kids under 13 should be allowed on Facebook”Image via Jakob Steinschaden

“My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age.”

- Mark Zuckerberg

Image via Tim FieldsSource: Michal Lev-Ram, “Zuckerberg: Kids under 13 should be allowed on Facebook”

“No matter what age is chosen, there’s not a magical event that happens on that birthday that makes the child suddenly older and more mature.” - Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd

Image via Cristiano Betta Source: Kevin Makice, “Coming of Age in the Digital Age”

“We'd take a lot of precautions to make sure that they [younger kids] are safe.”

- Mark Zuckerberg

Image via Oregon Department of Transportation

Source: Michal Lev-Ram, “Zuckerberg: Kids under 13 should be allowed on Facebook”

These children are sharing personal information with internet predators,

and can be easily be victim to cyber bullying and identity theft.

Image via Matt Cunnelly

Some parents however, are taking action and are keeping track of their child’s Facebook

Image via William Neuheisel

“I think it is fine for parents to check on their child's Facebook page”

- Mental health therapist, Diana Barkman

Image via Mikko Luntiala

Source: McClatchy, “Half of parents keep track of kids on Facebook. Should you?”

More than 40% of

parents look at their kid's

Facebook page every

day.

Source: McClatchy, “Half of parents keep track of kids on Facebook. Should you?”

Image via Mikael Altemark

“I am on Facebook for my own personal reasons, not to spy. The only way to really know what they are doing is to have

personal access” – Facebook mom

Source: McClatchy, “Half of parents keep track of kids on Facebook. Should you?”

Image via Anonymous9000

Perhaps these parents are taking extreme measures to protect their children.

And instead, could choose to inform their children of safe internet practices and how to avoid potential dangers.

Image via Tanja Van Den Berg-Niggendijker

Despite the best efforts of parents,

underage children are still creating social media accounts and sharing personal information which is easily exploitable

Image via Thoth God of Knowledge

Which poses the question…

Image via Bilal Kamoon

Should parents really have to regulate their child’s account?

Or should the age limit of Facebook and other social media sites be enforced more strictly?

Image via Catherine D

CreditsAll images are licensed under the

Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike 3.0

agreement, and sourced from Flickr

References

• http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/

• http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/personalfinance/half-of-parents-keep-track-of-kids-on-facebook-should-you/2119252

• http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/20/zuckerberg-kids-under-13-should-be-allowed-on-facebook/

• http://www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2013/04/05/facebook_fatigue_and_the_aging_social_network.html

• http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2013/02/coming-of-age-in-the-digital-age