Facebook Soon To Allow Kids Under 13 To Join

Sites include Facebook.com . Published on June 20th, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

Presently the age restriction threshold for joining Facebook is 13 but as we’ve covered on Sitetrail before, there are literally millions of kids on Facebook. Now it looks like the social networking giant is set to make it ‘legal’ for kids under 13 to join the site.

A recent report in the Wall Street Journal cited a plan to create technology that would it make it safer for kids to interact on the platform. Dubbed the ‘under 13’ feature, the technology would control who a child becomes friends with, as well as what games and apps they are able to access on the site. The overarching control mechanism though would be a direct linking of the child’s account to their parent or guardian. This way Facebook wouldn’t’ have to do the policing (which it presently does).

The move will be criticized by some for sure, but in the grand scheme of things and given current practices, the move makes a lot of sense. According to some sources there are roughly 7.5 million kids with Facebook accounts, many of which have been aided and abetted by their parents. Allowing them to join in a more controlled and supervised manner is practical and sensible.

Ultimately though, the way kids use Facebook should be managed by their parents—as with all things that kids do online.