Slashdot Mirror


Facebook Bans 20,000 Kids a Day

autospa writes "Although Facebook requires all users to be 13 or older, the social network bans 20,000 underage users a day, a spokeswoman said. 'There are people who lie. There are people who are under 13 [accessing Facebook],' Mozelle Thompson, Facebook's chief privacy adviser, told the The Telegraph."

192 comments

  1. They end up somewhere else by sethstorm · · Score: 4, Funny

    Myspace.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    1. Re:They end up somewhere else by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 4, Funny

      MySpace. The website for 14 year old girls. And the 40 year old men that love them.

    2. Re:They end up somewhere else by Chrisq · · Score: 1, Funny

      MySpace. The website for 14 year old girls. And the 40 year old men that love them.

      I hope you mean their dads

    3. Re:They end up somewhere else by NevarMore · · Score: 4, Funny

      Only in the context of "Who's your daddy?"

    4. Re:They end up somewhere else by bmo · · Score: 2

      You mean the FBI agents and the 40 year old lonely men caught by them.

      Rule 29: On the Internet, all girls are men and all kids are FBI agents

      Rule 30: There are no girls on the internet.

      --
      BMO

    5. Re:They end up somewhere else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think somebody just broke rules 1 and 2....

    6. Re:They end up somewhere else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No no no, this has nothing to do with usenet.

    7. Re:They end up somewhere else by Meski · · Score: 1

      The FBI agents are 14 year olds? Explains a lot.

    8. Re:They end up somewhere else by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MySpace. The website for 14 year old girls. And the 40 year old men that love them.

      I am a 40 year old man and my daughter is 14 years old. I have never been on facebook, myspace, bebo, twitter etc. But they say incest is best.

  2. Still facebook by leaen · · Score: 3, Funny

    I though facebook is past time for teenagers already cause their mum and grandma are at facebook too.

    1. Re:Still facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Introducing 12-year-olds to Facebook would dramatically improve the quality of discourse there.

    2. Re:Still facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I though facebook is past time for teenagers already cause their mum and grandma are at facebook too.

      That would be true, except that it's also forbidden. Makes all the difference

    3. Re:Still facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A good example for the usefulness of punctuation. "teenagers already cause their mum and grandma" could be a continuous piece of a sentence.

      "I thought facebook is past time for teenagers already, cause their mum and grandma are at facebook too." is much easier to skim over.

    4. Re:Still facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you mean it's "a pastime" and "because" and "facebook, too." If you're going to correct someone, at least get it right yourself.

      Idiot.

    5. Re:Still facebook by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 1

      I think you mean it's "a pastime". . . .

      No, I don't think he did.

      Idiot.

      Tch. Tch. Tch.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
    6. Re:Still facebook by wjousts · · Score: 1

      No, I think "past time" is right. As in it's time has passed. Not "pastime" as in "baseball is Americas pastime". I also don't think your last comma is right either. And it should be "on Facebook" not "at Facebook" and Facebook should be capitalized since it's a proper noun. So, to quote a wise man:

      If you're going to correct someone, at least get it right yourself.

    7. Re:Still facebook by Chrisq · · Score: 2

      I think you mean it's "a pastime" and "because" and "facebook, too." If you're going to correct someone, at least get it right yourself. Idiot.

      Maybe we need an over 13 rule on slashdot

    8. Re:Still facebook by Fibe-Piper · · Score: 1

      What an excellent characterization of tween-linguistics. This is by far the BEST post on the subject.

      --
      I went to battle M.C. Escher, but drew a blank.
    9. Re:Still facebook by anagama · · Score: 1

      Could always use a test like Liesure Suit Larry 3:
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5l7MHGZAQ
      skip in to about 3:15.

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  3. They'll never get them all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I doubt they'll be able to stop everyone under the age of 13 from accessing it. Though it's likely something parents do not enforce or care about to stop their children from using it.

    1. Re:They'll never get them all by somersault · · Score: 1

      I always thought it would be funny for parents to create Facebook accounts for their kids when they're born, upload all their pics to it etc.. didn't realise you weren't even allowed an account if you're under 13. The chances that Facebook will still be no 1 when the kid hits 13 aren't astronomical of course..

      --
      which is totally what she said
    2. Re:They'll never get them all by xaxa · · Score: 2

      I always thought it would be funny for parents to create Facebook accounts for their kids when they're born, upload all their pics to it etc.

      I have two under-13 "friends" on Facebook -- both children of people I know. One is only 1.5 years old, and got a Facebook account within a week of being born. When he's older I doubt he'll see that profile as "his", it's really his mum's second profile.

    3. Re:They'll never get them all by Jesterace · · Score: 1

      Actually that would be a pretty neat idea. Sort of an online style baby book. But who knows the future of facebook. Though the parent comment was mine and I forgot to log in.

    4. Re:They'll never get them all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My 7 year old son has a Facebook account. He also has a GMail account which has the same age 'requirement'. Those age requirements are presumably there as a CYA for the company. I am surprised that anyone really expects users to even consider them.

      The funny part about the GMail account is that until (I believe) version 2.1, you could not activate an Android phone without a GMail account. This meant that we had to sign our 6 year old (at the time) son up for a Gmail account for him to use the phone.

    5. Re:They'll never get them all by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      My six year old dog has a Facebook account.

      Because I refuse to have one at all under my real name.

    6. Re:They'll never get them all by Firehed · · Score: 1

      The "you must be 13" thing is because of COPPA. The companies don't care in the slightest, they just don't want to deal with the regulatory junk.

      Also, why the hell does a kid that young need a cell phone? Tell him to go outside and play in the dirt.

      --
      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
  4. In other news? by vawwyakr · · Score: 5, Funny

    20k undercover police officer's fake accounts banded perday from facebook.

    1. Re:In other news? by vawwyakr · · Score: 2

      It's a joke on the whole "Internet where the man are men the women are men and the children are FBI agents"

    2. Re:In other news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      -1 "I don't like the poster" or -1 "I disagree with his opinion" are Not moderation options.

      Completely off-topic, but it's cute how you continue to be oblivious to the true reasons you get downmodded. Since you can't see yourself for the troll that you are, it ensures that we will always be able to find a trollish post to downmod.

    3. Re:In other news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need to take a closer look at the post. You are quoting his sig line and stating it's off topic...

    4. Re:In other news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people (including myself) do not consider replying to sigs as on topic.

  5. I don't understand by Dan+East · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When asked by the Australian parliamentary online safety committee how Facebook can detect those lying on age forms, Thompson replied, "It's not perfect." In fact, it's relatively easy. A standard online form asks a user if he or she is 13 or over, and the user can tell the truth or not. ComScore estimates about 3.6 million of kids under 12 use Facebook in the United States.

    Uh, I don't understand this retarded article. How are they determining that users are under 13? The article says "In fact, it's relatively easy." but then goes on to talk about something entirely different. Of course the user can tell the truth or lie, but how is Facebook determining they lie? In their own words "It's not perfect" so what are they doing? Facial recognition to flag people that look young? Network of young friends? Use of improper grammar and slang in posts? I hate lame articles like this.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The article tells us very, very little.

      As does this post, I know...

    2. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They probably say they're over 13, then enter their real birthday (including the year) later on, so they can get greetings off their friends.

    3. Re:I don't understand by iamhassi · · Score: 1

      "first grade was great today..."

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    4. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They estimate 3.6 million users under 12, but Facebook claims to ban more than 5 million a year?
      Kids *are* getting stupider.

      I wonder if they ban more bots, or Chinese "Like" farmers, than they do 12 year olds...

    5. Re:I don't understand by YodasEvilTwin · · Score: 1

      It's done through people flagging their profiles, mostly. I've done it. Though they didn't take down the profile ... hmm.

    6. Re:I don't understand by andrea.sartori · · Score: 2

      They estimate 3.6 million users under 12, but Facebook claims to ban more than 5 million a year?

      From TFS: "There are people who lie."

      --
      Mostly harmless.
    7. Re:I don't understand by snspdaarf · · Score: 4, Funny

      "first grade was great today..."

      In the town I live, that could be posted by half the population under 35

      --
      Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
    8. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I worked moderating dating/chat websites for a while, and we had to deal with quite a few underage users. There are a few methods for bringing the data to the moderators attention (Bayesian filtering, user reporting, even identifying likely cases by their friends within the site), but they come down to one factor:

      People generally only bother to lie about their age in the age field. In their 'about me', in their username, in their pictures, in every single chat conversation or status update they'll be entirely honest under the assumption that the site only checks the Date Of Birth field. After a user/profile has been flagged as likely for whatever reason, it's generally a matter of seconds to verify whether or not that's the case.

    9. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey look at this guy, thinks he's hot shit just because he was able to pass first grade in under seven tries!

    10. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From what I understand, they just ban any account that has any content with the word "Bieber" in it.

    11. Re:I don't understand by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      "First grade was great today" demonstrates spelling and grammatical abilities beyond that of 35 year old still in grade school, so it could only have been written by a real child.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    12. Re:I don't understand by Magnus+Pym · · Score: 1

      They are probably cross-referencing the info provided by the user against their databases. I'm sure the personal data available to facebook is comprehensive. For example:

      New user lists his/her address, gender. John Smith, Male, 13, lives at 20 Silicon Valley way, CA.

      Facebook accesses data bases that tell it that the inhabitants of 20 Silicon Valley way are Peter, Mary, Linda & John, ages 35, 32, 13 & 10, respectively.

      Facebook figures out that the new user is actually only 10.

    13. Re:I don't understand by DrgnDancer · · Score: 1

      All I know is that my stupid cousin encouraged both of her kids (8 and 10) to get Facebook accounts and brow beat several members of the family into friending them. Their accounts haven't been closed after nearly a year. I'm half-tempted to finally take the friend requests then immediately do the "Which Sexual Position are You?" quiz and post my results.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    14. Re:I don't understand by hansamurai · · Score: 1

      From what I understand, they just ban any account that has any content with the word "Bieber" in it.

      Says 20,000 a day, not 20 million.

    15. Re:I don't understand by frozentier · · Score: 1

      I know someone who has had a fb profile for 2 years, and it says right in the info "I'm a smart 8 year old". Page still exists and there's no way to report it.

    16. Re:I don't understand by vlm · · Score: 1

      Of course the user can tell the truth or lie, but how is Facebook determining they lie?

      Facebook is not. Their second grade teacher is determining it, and flagging the account as "impersonation". This works pretty well if you live in a small town. When I used to have a FB account it would pop random people up from my hometown and current city and ask me to friend them... Or was that the dating site ads? Well anyway. If you put your town as "LA" or "NYC" this doesn't work, but proportionally very few people live there, or they technically live and attend school in a very small suburb, which they probably listed so as to hang out with their friends.

      I should ask my school teacher relatives if they do this for fun on their own time, or maybe the school contracts to someones relative, or the admins do it in their spare time, or exactly how this works.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    17. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The outcome would probably be you getting charged with sexual assault of minors ;)

    18. Re:I don't understand by Ironhandx · · Score: 1

      However I believe this policy could only serve to drastically improve the overall facebook experience.

    19. Re:I don't understand by Fibe-Piper · · Score: 1

      I wonder if they ban more bots, or Chinese "Like" farmers, than they do 12 year olds...

      /MEME-tasm!

      --
      I went to battle M.C. Escher, but drew a blank.
    20. Re:I don't understand by andrea.sartori · · Score: 1

      That, or the new user is actually Linda.

      --
      Mostly harmless.
    21. Re:I don't understand by Sir_Sri · · Score: 1

      A couple of options jump out at me.

      Any point where they could enter a birthdate, you can use that.
      If they post what school they're at, and you know they're under about grade 6, you can use that (especially handy if a school only goes to grade 6), or anything else about what grade they are in.
      Probably user reports.

      I wouldn't want to go blabbing the technique used, just because it's probably possible to troll people with it who are close to the age. And one thing you want to do is get em hooked young so they'll be customers for the next 60 years, not get them angry and quitting your service at 14.

    22. Re:I don't understand by Machtyn · · Score: 1

      Why would the kill their golden calf?

    23. Re:I don't understand by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      Why would you want to? Or, are you just pointing out that you couldn't if you did want to? Which you don't?

    24. Re:I don't understand by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      Why would you want to do that? I truly don't understand why you would have any problem with her having her kids on Facebook? What is the problem with her kids being in contact with their family?

    25. Re:I don't understand by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      That would be truly sad, and seriously make them look bad.

    26. Re:I don't understand by Coeurderoy · · Score: 1

      A) Facebook is only starting to seriously ban people,
      B) A large part of the "Banned" kids do not wait till they are 13 to recreate an Account...
      C) The quantity of under 13 users is probably growing...
      So they claim to ban around 7 million kids a year, and are probably increasing the rate, and it's probably not enough.. (for some values of enough)

      As for bots and farmers they are probably in the millions a day...

    27. Re:I don't understand by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Anybody who doesn't invent their new Facebook 'identity' thoroughly and whole-cloth deserves to have it deleted.

      That means, writing down the details of your new identity in a file or on paper, including a plausible birth date, making up the appropriate school to have attended, etc.

      I think this is an important and worthy endeavor. Because if everybody salted Facebook with a half dozen made up identities, it would ruin it as an 'identity' destination, and probably lower the Zucks take in revenue.

    28. Re:I don't understand by demonbug · · Score: 1

      -1, Bieber.

    29. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because then the onus is on him to sanitize his FB output to make it age-appropriate for his cousin's kids. Why is that his job?

    30. Re:I don't understand by flappinbooger · · Score: 1

      Uh, I don't understand this retarded article. How are they determining that users are under 13? The article says "In fact, it's relatively easy." but then goes on to talk about something entirely different. Of course the user can tell the truth or lie, but how is Facebook determining they lie?

      I always liked how Leisure Suit Larry did it - Asking questions an adult at the time would know, but a 13 y/o kid hoping to see 8 bit boobies would not know.

      --
      Flappinbooger isn't my real name
    31. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's not. I helped mine 9yr old son sign up for Facebook. The onus is on me to monitor his usage.

    32. Re:I don't understand by DrgnDancer · · Score: 1

      It's not per se that they have Facebook accounts that bothers me. Technically it's against the terms of service, but that's hardly a serious issue. What annoys me is that my cousin had her kids make these account and send friend requests to essentially everyone in my immediate family without warning us ahead of time. My mother is one of five sisters, many of whom have two or three adult children of their own now, it's quite a substantial number of people we're talking about here. When people ignored and/or turned down these requests (mostly becasue we didn't want to have to self censor everything we did to be age appropriate for an 8 year old) she became irate and made a huge deal out it. She guilted several family members into accepting by basically implying that the kids were crushed by their refusal to accept the original requests.

      Had she had the kids make accounts then contacted people ahead of time to ask if they'd want friend requests, and acted like an adult if they said "no" it wouldn't have been a problem. I don't post porn on my Facebook or anything, but I don't really feel like censoring it down to an 8 year level either. I also don't appreciate being the bad guy who crush her darling girl's dream of being able to read about my jogging schedule and check-ins at the local pub.

      --
      I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
    33. Re:I don't understand by rwv · · Score: 1

      So your cousin is depending on you not to be inappropriate on Facebook and you're tempted to prove her wrong out of spite? I can't possibly imagine what could go wrong.

    34. Re:I don't understand by asher09 · · Score: 1

      I have ~ a dozen "friends" who are "First day of middle school.... I'm so nervous!!!"
      But they never caught it. So it might have to very specific like
      "Happy 12th birthday!"
      Come to think of it, I think I've posted Bday wishes like that before...

      --
      Some were yelling one thing, some another. Most of them had no idea what was going on or why they were there. Acts19:32
    35. Re:I don't understand by StillNeedMoreCoffee · · Score: 1

      I think it's like the no-fly lists. I once had a yahoo account that I could not get to some business networking sections and they recommended that I go to the underage site. There was no way to get them to change whatever flag had been set, through emails or phone calls. Watch out you may be under aged .

    36. Re:I don't understand by _0xd0ad · · Score: 1

      Facebook isn't supposed to be appropriate for 10-year-olds.

    37. Re:I don't understand by garompeta · · Score: 1

      If that it, it would be really a sad method of detecting age. In my profile I was born in 1900, but I just kept the day and month correct.

    38. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      cool story, bro

    39. Re:I don't understand by Quirkz · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile I struggle repeatedly with "brilliant" adults who want to join some forums I run, understandably don't want to put in their real birthday, but then decide picking a sub-13 fake age is the way to go. At which point the account is locked, they yell at me, and I've got to go clean up so they can re-register and keep their preferred user name.

    40. Re:I don't understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or maybe they are really 45 and lieing in the 'about me'. Don't forget two groups exist here which would have an incentive to lie in one or the other.

    41. Re:I don't understand by Dabido · · Score: 1

      The article says "In fact, it's relatively easy." but then goes on to talk about something entirely different.

      You obviously missed it. It's relatively easy to explain. Whales and unicorns migrate south for the winter using sonar they stole from Russian submarines ...

      --
      Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
    42. Re:I don't understand by Ananya+Agrawal · · Score: 1

      Add the darned kids and abuse away... post boobshots... then you shall see them defrieniding you, problem solved and 2 more kids corrupted for life :P or you could be mature and tell your cuz shes stupid

      --
      -Ananya Agrawal
    43. Re:I don't understand by Heddahenrik · · Score: 1
      (I didn't mean this to be insulting, but I failed... Sorry about that in advance!) I think it's best that your cousin look her kids in the cellar and never let them out. Otherwise the kids might see someone who has heard about some sort of sex, and their tiny heads will explode.

      Seriously: Get your moralist myths against the wall and shoot them! Kids get hurt by beatings, rapes and overprotecting parents, not by seeing nudity or learn about sex. That is fact and nothing for sane people to debate.

      I'm been running Elftown for 9 years, and we allow all ages and we ban the moralist pigs who say that they will report us to the police (Well, very rarely, of course. We just tell them to get their act together or we'll ban them).

      And I very much want my cousin's children on FB. Otherwise I'll know nothing about them.

  6. Re:Lying about age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Subtracting 10 years from your birthdate makes you older. Moron.

  7. She said she was 18! by elrous0 · · Score: 1

    I wish they would let us customize our default posting options, by age or individual. I would love nothing better than if my postings by default couldn't be seen by anyone under 18 (i.e., my nephews) and anyone over 60 (i.e., my parents).

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:She said she was 18! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but more interesting would be if they could fix me a pair of goggles one could use that only showed "beautiful women"* and blurred everyone else.
      * for a given value of beautiful.

    2. Re:She said she was 18! by Frantix · · Score: 2

      Default posting options are there... Create a list called "Restricted" and add people to it and then restrict their access in security to not see your wall. It takes 5 minutes to create and one second to add a new friend to it after it's set up. If you don't want to restrict every post, there's a 'lock' under each post that if you want to block the post to the "Restricted" list, you click it and customize and add the "Restricted" list to "Hide this from". Lists are your friend.

    3. Re:She said she was 18! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're all always "Yeah, I'm 18", until you stick it in their pooper and then it's "Oh, help, I'm only 13! I'm only 13!!!!"

    4. Re:She said she was 18! by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      She may have said she was 18, but the grey hair should have tipped you off she wasn't!

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    5. Re:She said she was 18! by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      Yes, we're all well aware of your position, Mr. Polanski.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    6. Re:She said she was 18! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She may have said she was 18, but the grey hair should have tipped you off she wasn't!

      That's a stereotype! I've been going grey since I was 13.

    7. Re:She said she was 18! by vlm · · Score: 1

      Remove adblock plus and try again.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    8. Re:She said she was 18! by treeves · · Score: 1

      That used to be known as 'beer'.

      --
      ...the future crusty old bastards are already drinking the Kool-Aid.
  8. Question by Vitani · · Score: 1

    I know a few children who have accounts on Facebook (children of my friends), how do I report them so I can finally be rid of their immature comments on their parents' publications?

    1. Re:Question by andrea.sartori · · Score: 2

      Tell the police they are 60-years-olds posing as teenagers.

      --
      Mostly harmless.
    2. Re:Question by Vitani · · Score: 1

      Surely if they're teenagers, they're 13 or over and allowed to use Facebook? :o)

      The kids in question are 8-10 years old, their parents really should know better ... (my nine-year-old son is not allowed on, much to his annoyment!)

    3. Re:Question by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 1

      Um, tell their parents?

    4. Re:Question by YodasEvilTwin · · Score: 1

      Go to their profile, Report/Block link on the bottom-left.

    5. Re:Question by andrea.sartori · · Score: 1

      Surely if they're teenagers, they're 13 or over and allowed to use Facebook? :o)

      Oooops...

      --
      Mostly harmless.
    6. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And publish their badge numbers. Those police pretending to be little boys and girls are shameful. And boy, do they keep asking me for lollipops, money, and snuggly sleepovers. I keep asking them to bring their nightsticks and their handcuffs, I like to play with those.

    7. Re:Question by Vitani · · Score: 1

      I looked that that, but the options are very limited (pretending to be someone else, abusive comments, etc.), and none of them are "under age user".

      I could just block them I guess, but that doesn't really solve the real issue.

    8. Re:Question by Vitani · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately their parents are in their friends list and/or set up their accounts for them!

    9. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait a minute. You don't like the kid's postings, and blocking them doesn't solve the real issue? What is your issue? That you can't be the kids' parent and make decisions for them?

      If the issue is that YOU don't want to be bothered by their juvenile snivelings, then block them and move on with your life. There, no longer bothered, done!

      Don't expect the world to change to suit you, when you have tools to block the bits of the world you don't like.

    10. Re:Question by vlm · · Score: 1

      I looked that that, but the options are very limited (pretending to be someone else

      1) The kid is pretending to be someone else; someone whom is 13 or over.

      2) Tell FB that you personally know that kid, that kid is 8, and someone else is impersonating the kid online (school bully, stereotypical middle aged creepy male lunatic right out of a TV special, who knows, even though its almost certainly the parents or a relative).

      At the real world age of 3 months its pretty obvious the parents are doing it for the laughs, it MIGHT even be funny (but lets face it, probably not). At the age of 7 years its not so clear who is lying. At the age of 11 years its probably the kid lying.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    11. Re:Question by knappe+duivel · · Score: 1

      There is no real issue. Just try to be a bit tolerant.

    12. Re:Question by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      Or you can just unfriend their parents, since even considering that is a clear indication you don't respect their parents and are not their friends anyway.

    13. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find facebook anonying, how do I block it, and every single piece of crap that has come from them that has been integrated in every damn webpage.

    14. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe adblocking facebook.com and fbcdn.net is the easy method of doing it.

      ~Another Anon

    15. Re:Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot facebook.net.

  9. Age of Consent? by antivoid · · Score: 1

    Why are they banning under-13's from using the site? Is 13 the age of consent in the United States? what an arb number...

    1. Re:Age of Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would guess that it's the age at which they're considered capable of agreeing to the T&Cs.

    2. Re:Age of Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why are they banning under-13's from using the site? Is 13 the age of consent in the United States? what an arb number...

      No, there is a Federal Law the forbids companies from collecting any information from anyone under 13. Why 13? I don't know. Age of majority in most states is 18, 19 in some.

    3. Re:Age of Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      That's usually around the time they start sporting bewbs, and Z-berg isn't into flattys.

    4. Re:Age of Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably COPPA.

    5. Re:Age of Consent? by pz · · Score: 1

      Why are they banning under-13's from using the site? Is 13 the age of consent in the United States? what an arb number...

      Any number is going to be an arbitrary threshold; perhaps you didn't give the idea the few more seconds of thought it deserved before typing?

      --

      Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    6. Re:Age of Consent? by autocracy · · Score: 5, Informative

      Federal law prohibits websites from collecting personal information from anyone under the age of 13.

      --
      SIG: HUP
    7. Re:Age of Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is 13 the age of consent in the United States?

      Only in Mississippi and for relatives.

    8. Re:Age of Consent? by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 1

      Why are they banning under-13's from using the site? Is 13 the age of consent in the United States?

      No, but it is the age of consent in Spain and Iran. It's 12 or less in Angola, the Philippines, Yemen, and parts of Mexico. A few countries don't have an age of consent, requiring only that sex be within marriage (at any age). In most of the world, it varies from 14 to 16, and in the USA it varies from 16 to 18.

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    9. Re:Age of Consent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Federal law prohibits websites from collecting personal information from anyone under the age of 13

      without parental consent. Fixed it for you. COPPA is the law which governs this, and as long as the website follows some procedures to get permission from the parent they can do so.

      As a parent I wish more of the bigger websites would do so. Better yet, let me have some parental oversight over my kids online activities so I can train them how to be good and safe net citizens.

    10. Re:Age of Consent? by Belial6 · · Score: 1

      More specifically, it forbids the collection of information on anyone under 13 without the parents consent. Since it would be just as trivial for FB to have a checkbox that says "Parent Consents" as it is for the Disney or Nickelodeon site, we can safely assume that data collection laws are not the reason.

      I would presume that 13 is the age because FB is the kind of site that media outlets would love to rake over the coals. 13 was established long before the internet was popularized, and it has held are a pretty safe age by the population as an appropriate age to show kids 'inappropriate' material. (e.g. PG-13 movies) Right or wrong, effective or ineffective, there is precident for the age 13. Many sites on the internet used that as a cutoff age before it became a legal necessity.

      So now, FB wanting to have as many users as possible is going to set the age to the lowest possible number that won't cause them legal problems. If they went with 12, they would stand out as the exception. At 13, they are conforming to the cultural standard.

    11. Re:Age of Consent? by daveewart · · Score: 1

      Federal law prohibits websites from collecting personal information from anyone under the age of 13.

      'Federal' suggests you are talking about a U.S. law. Many users of Facebook are not based in the U.S. What implications does this have here, specifically to non-U.S. users of Facebook, if any?

      --
      "If you think the problem is bad now, just wait until we've solved it." --- Arthur Kasspe
    12. Re:Age of Consent? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      What do they call a girl in Appalachia that can run faster than any of her brothers?

      A virgin.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    13. Re:Age of Consent? by Teh_Chris · · Score: 1

      My understanding of it is that since Facebook is US-based, they made the rule in order to abide by the local law. Since everyone still has to abide by Facebook's rules on the website, you would still be subject to it. I don't know enough about the law to tell if it is technically illegal for a U.S. site to get personal information from 12-year-olds in other countries, but my guess would be... it is still illegal.

    14. Re:Age of Consent? by autocracy · · Score: 1

      The question mentioned the US specifically, so it was a US-specific answer.

      --
      SIG: HUP
  10. Re:Lying about age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You start at -1 because you're a fucking moron and a troll, and because you've recently taken to using dozens of sockpuppets in an attempt to make sure every single person here knows how fucking stupid you are. Something you apparently don't even try to hide anymore considering you posted this as cpu6502 and knew the intentions of a post by commodore64_love.

  11. Mis-read headline by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 3, Funny

    I thought it said "Facebook bangs 20,000 kids a day", which is probably criminal.
    But sending them to Myspace is almost certainly worse...

    --
    Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    1. Re:Mis-read headline by isorox · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I thought it said "Facebook bangs 20,000 kids a day", which is probably criminal.

      Unless you're an Italian PM

    2. Re:Mis-read headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In his case, it would be exaggeration.

    3. Re:Mis-read headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Send them to 4chan

    4. Re:Mis-read headline by sethstorm · · Score: 1

      Take off the zeroes, and you'd probably be right about Berlusconi.

      --
      Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
  12. Re:100$ per User by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What in the fucking hell does this stupid post mean? Can someone mod parent down?

  13. Duh by tekrat · · Score: 1

    My youngest niece and all her friends are on facebook and she's under 13 -- she uses her ipod touch to access the site. She can type with her thumbs faster than I can on a keyboard with all 10 fingers! Her spelling is terrible, but, she gets her messages across. I'd never heard of this rule until now, I just assumed it was normal for her to be on facebook.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:Duh by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      From the quality of spelling and grammar I've seen on Facebook, I'm pretty sure EVERY member is under 13!

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:Duh by gravis777 · · Score: 1

      I probably have a dozen or so family members under the age of 13 on FB, and know quite a few friends whose kids are. How else are they going to play Farmville? I can't think of any of them who have posted a single picture or status update.

  14. I don't understand either by hellfire · · Score: 1

    I hate lame articles like this.

    Then why are you reading /. ?

    --

    "All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"

    1. Re:I don't understand either by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      for the comments. I am just waiting until the lemmings here finally decide to move somewhere where bad editing actually has consequences, and (more importantly) where good editing is promoted.

      *swoon*

  15. What does Facebook expect? by realsilly · · Score: 1

    Sadly, Facebook is the Crack cocaine of the internet. Facebook has put oodles of web games on their site that kids dig. Children are very social creatures, and this is basically the cookie jar that's within reach and a tiny bit of innovation (lying) from kids to get that cookie. The problem is that kids don't think through things, when they lie.

    They may say they are 14, and then have open discussions about all the 3rd grade class stuff the kid does and posts from other friends to post dates and times and ages.

    In some of these take-downs, the Parents are the ones who have consented to the page.

    --
    Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
    1. Re:What does Facebook expect? by UBfusion · · Score: 1

      Sadly, Facebook is the Crack cocaine of the internet.

      Wow, I didn't know US had so many illegal users of crack cocaine under the age of 13. Thank god Facebook thinks of the children and allows them to do crack only when reach the age of 13.

  16. Whose law? by moorhens · · Score: 1

    So far as I know, in the UK, there is nothing legal to prevent children of any age taking part in social media. (If I am wrong, please correct me). The European Data Protection Act is often quoted, but is not age specific, it just says that the expected target audience should understand what they are signing up to, and most agencies reckon that understanding comes at around the age of 12, which, coincidentally, is the same age at which they can be legally culpable of violent crimes. So if a bunch of savvy 11 year olds want to communicate among themselves via Facebook entirely within the UK, without asking for parental consent (or even with it) are they breaking anyone's laws? Just because Facebook tries to work within California's rules, does that mean that UK use by young children is a problem - not counting the whole appropriateness/stalker issue?

    1. Re:Whose law? by ted.hansson · · Score: 1

      As mentioned earlier, there are data collection laws in the US that has an age limit of 13. If they were to use a social networking site hosted in the UK, that would be fine, Facebook, however, is not.

    2. Re:Whose law? by tepples · · Score: 1

      Just because Facebook tries to work within California's rules, does that mean that UK use by young children is a problem - not counting the whole appropriateness/stalker issue?

      If one server is located on United States soil, transactions on that server are subject to United States law. Feel free to start your own UK-only Facebook clone, and good luck signing people up.

    3. Re:Whose law? by ledow · · Score: 1

      Whether it's law or not, the rule is a certain age, which users click "I agree" to when they sign up. If they lied on that, it doesn't matter what the law says about data protection, their accounts are forfeitable.

      And they don't want to have to keep track of a million different laws so a blanket-ban on under-13's is just common sense and saving on administration - like every forum software I've seen in the last ten years says by default or recommends.

      Who cares about the law - if you say it's not for kids, even if only for convenience / arse-covering, then it's not for kids. Break that rule, lose your account. Why this is an article at all except for possibly the *number* of accounts they deal with is beyond me.

    4. Re:Whose law? by moorhens · · Score: 2

      I see where you are coming from ledow and sympathise from a user's viewpoint, but the answer to your question is that I care about the law and so does my company. I run a large UK children's club as part of a larger charity, and not surprisingly, many of the kids are not only on Facebook (shock!) but also prefer to communicate via Facebook rather than by something as 20th Century as email. Other people in my organisation are still not only scared by all the usual scary internet things, but also keep saying that even our own message boards *must* remain exclusively for adults for legal reasons. I dispute that and would like to have ways of backing up my view that not only do we need to communicate in ways that children are themselves using, but that the any rules on social media are under the control of the people who make the rules up, not the lawmakers.

    5. Re:Whose law? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      No one ever actually agrees to any EULA or TOS. I used to read those things just so I would know what I'm not allowed to do - then start doing those things immediately. Just because some bunch of fools puts a disclaimer and some rules at the bottom of a sign up page doesn't mean anyone has read them, or that anyone agrees to them. And, I'll wager that a half decent lawyer can bet any and all terms thrown out if it ever goes to court.

      It's the internet, FFS. People are supposed to have free access to data. Screw censorship, and screw censors. If Mom and Dad don't care that Junior might see a picture of Aunt Betty in the raw, why should Facebook?

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    6. Re:Whose law? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      I run a large UK children's club..

      You know, they say pedophiles seek out positions where they know they'll come into contact with a lot of children... that's why I don't volunteer.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    7. Re:Whose law? by moorhens · · Score: 1

      I hope you mean you don't volunteer because that's what *they* say rather than that's what you are. Online and offline risks to children are manageable through carefully thought out and followed procedures rather than legislation alone, but at present it's not even clear what is legislation and what's someone's view of common sense rules.

    8. Re:Whose law? by ledow · · Score: 1

      I work in schools. No school that I know of has a forum unless every word is moderated by staff first. And my brother runs a large Scouting website which has a forum. His disclaimer reads:

      All users under the age of 13 must have prior parental consent, as required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 2000, before registering on this forum. This can be done through the following methods:
      Digitally Signed E-Mail from the parent or legal guardian
      Contacting the site administrator ( ... @ ...) via mail or fax (e-mail for more information)
      The parents or guardians of this user have all authority over this account, and can choose to cancel it at any time (via the method chosen to open this account).

      Which firmly puts the ball in the court of the person creating the account. It may help to read the relevant legislation but, basically, covering your arse is the best method - don't specifically create things for kids without checking it first, and try not to store any information on kids at all if you can.

      If nothing else, think what you will be exposed to if an adult joins the forums and starts talking inappropriately to children (maybe even via private message if you still have that enabled) - you may have done everything you can to prevent it but it's still not something you can control adequately.

      No school or large children's organisation that I know of allows kids to talk freely on forums, even with parental consent. If they want to do so on Facebook outside of school, that's up to the parents. Again, most schools just block all social networking sites apart from those that are highly-vetted and moderated (e.g. online school community networks supplied by local boroughs, etc.)

  17. Re:100$ per User by andrea.sartori · · Score: 1

    Parent's stupid post means "Today I have created sockpuppet accounts, here and on other sites, with the sole purpose of linking that website somewhere in order to boost 'sites linking to..' numbers on alexa.com".

    --
    Mostly harmless.
  18. In reality, more like 2,000... by HikingStick · · Score: 1

    In reality, it's probably more like 2,000 kids who keep trying to get a profile that sticks...

    "Come on...the tenth time's the charm!"

    --
    I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
  19. Re:Lying about age? by digitig · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If people with a vendetta against you mod you down it will be picked up by the metamoderation system. If you find that you are consistently modded down, bad luck, it means that your contributions really are crap.

    --
    Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
  20. underage VAN by SeakingFUKyea · · Score: 1

    Lol if I had a nickel for everytime I posed as an OVERage person when I was underage..

    1. Re:underage VAN by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      Lol if I had a nickel for everytime I posed as an OVERage person when I was underage..

      Unfortunately there was no world wide web when I was underage, and the only chance I have of pretending I'm old enough now is trying to sneak in to the pensioners' matinée film club

    2. Re:underage VAN by vlm · · Score: 1

      Was this before beer was invented? You have a 6 digit /. UID, I have a 5 digit /. UID and even we had friends with fake IDs.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  21. Re:Lying about age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My UID is almost the same as yours, C64. I've read your posts here since I started visiting. Many people called you a troll, but I thought of you as more like someone who wasn't afraid to share opinions, even if the majority of those opinions are kind of retarded.

    However, by using sock puppets you align yourself with dumbfucks like MichealKristopeit and sopssa, and even the few who might have supported you in the past (like me) have to admit that you really are just a troll.

    Your name is dirt here for a good reason. Trying to avoid that karma by using sockpuppets only confirms your poor standing is justly given.

    If you want a fresh start, use a new account with a new name and break all ties to your current UIDs.

  22. Re:Lying about age? by DrgnDancer · · Score: 2

    He's never attempted to hide it. I don't think he uses "Sock Puppets" in the tradition sense, I think he just likes having his name show up 15 different ways. It's very odd. We've gotten into a few arguments over the last few months and it's really odd to get continuous replies from 5 or 6 different accounts all of whom are obviously the same person.

    --
    I don't need a million points of light, just two points of multi-mode fiber and a 10 Gig-E router.
  23. wait what??? this is perfect!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    someone made a facebook account on one of my emails, and i was pissed i could not have the thing deleted in any way..
    i guess i'll activate it and start saying i'm 11 year old then.. :-)
    FINALLY!

  24. Re:Lying about age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This is why I post anonymously. I don't care if people mod me down because my posts are crap, but I'm sure there are many people who would dislike my opinions in general and mod me down no matter what I say. And considering I'm a religious communist who believes that everyone's work deserves fair compensation and who takes a reserved approach towards Microsoft and Apple, there are a lot of them!

    (First off-topic post, and I didn't even get to complain about how I love the new Slashdot layout, but that there are problems where clicking things results in the wrong reaction!)

  25. Re:gucci shoes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the number of spam posts like this created by registered users has really grown over the last 6-9 months. Hell, I was still looking for the 2 millionth UID and we've already gone far past that. /. is growing up so fast! ^_^

  26. Re:Lying about age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's one problem about anonymous posting though. "Slow down cowboy!" You need to wait between your posts...

    The wait time between anonymous posts currently exceeds 2 hours.
    I understand 5, 10, 30 minutes... but over 2 hours?

    Posting anon to be able to mod you up.

  27. Those darned apostrophes by Deep+Esophagus · · Score: 3, Funny

    I almost hate to do this since you were so careful at catching all the other mistakes, but

    As in it's time has passed.

    should be

    As in its time has passed.

    "It's" is a contraction of "it is", as in "it's a shame people can no longer communicate effectively." "Its" is the possessive for "it", as in "its time has passed." So, to quote someone who quoted a wise man:

    If you're going to correct someone, at least get it right yourself.

    1. Re:Those darned apostrophes by wjousts · · Score: 1

      Damn you! ...erm....I mean, yeah that was intentional, you know....irony! Yeah I know the difference between "its" and "it's", just sometimes I type faster than I think.

    2. Re:Those darned apostrophes by Phoghat · · Score: 1

      godamn grammar Nazi

      --
      Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
  28. There are people who lie by rust627 · · Score: 1

    Really ????

    What a surprise

    --
    da da da dum indeed.
  29. Re:Lying about age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Hasn't worked so far."

    It is working. That's why you don't like it.

  30. My son.... by flashingcurser · · Score: 4, Funny

    My 12 yo son and all of his friends have facebook accounts. The only exploitation that I can see is my wife's farmville looks like a plantation with a bunch of 12yo slaves.

    1. Re:My son.... by UBfusion · · Score: 1

      Not a little feat! Thanks to modern IT and FB it only took us seven years to establish global digital slavery.

  31. Re:Lying about age? by LanMan04 · · Score: 1

    commodore64_love has been on my foes list for AGES, I guess I just need to add a few of his other aliases.

    --
    With the first link, the chain is forged.
  32. Re:Lying about age? by Fibe-Piper · · Score: 1

    You know what? This flame war isn't completely off-topic; I would fucking love for the ability to mod down trolls like you on Facebook.

    --
    I went to battle M.C. Escher, but drew a blank.
  33. I tell them why they shouldn't be on these sites. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I tell them why they shouldn't be on these sites. I explain that there's a hell of a lot of risk because adults who get caught get terrible punishment, hardly any worse than if they'd murdered their victim. And a dead child can't tell on them.

    So these kids are risking their very lives on these sites.

    Sometimes I get abuse hurled at me. Oddly enough, sometimes I'm accused of being a paedo. By the child on an adults-only service. Weird, huh. Most of the time, though, they're defensive at first then admit that what they're doing is dangerous. I suspect because most of the kids are on there just to be treated like an adult. Which I do when explaining the danger calmly as if they are fully able to understand complex reasoning.

  34. Re:Lying about age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The appears to be validated based on your user agent. Try changing it, or using a different browser and you can post as many times as you want.

  35. Shocking by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    This is simply shocking. 13 year old kids lie to get on Facebook? Why - back in my day, they hadn't invented LYING yet! The younger generations are going to hell, I tell you. Lying. My generation would never have though of telling a lie to anyone. Well, maybe to get out of a horse-whipping or something like that. Even then, we'd have crossed our fingers behind our backs!

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  36. Wait by MoriT · · Score: 1

    People lie on the internet!?!!

    At least now you only have to claim to be 13. Back in my day I was 18 every year for 6 years.

  37. Fake accounts? by antdude · · Score: 1

    How many with fake accounts?

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  38. Sigh... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    My ten year old daughter has a Facebook account, to communicate with all her friends who are also lying about their age. Seriously, when your only age verification is the question "Are you over 13 (yes/no)?", what do you expect? I'm beginning to suspect that most of the dogs, cats, and horses with Facebook pages are also lying about their age. Seriously, all anybody needs to do is look at the profile pictures people post to notice that a LOT of people are lying about their age!

  39. pedophile somewhere: by Krau+Ming · · Score: 1

    NOOOO!!!

  40. TFA completely wrong on age requirement by holizz · · Score: 2

    There are obvious reasons why there are federal age requirements for Internet use: sexual predators, cyberbullying, adult content and explicit language.

    Those are the obvious reasons. But none of those are correct.

    [U.S. Congress] wanted to make certain that corporations could not collect or sell data about children under the age of 13 without parental permission, so they created a requirement to check age and get parental permission for those under 13. Most companies took one look at COPPA and decided that the process of getting parental consent was far too onerous so they simply required all participants to be at least 13 years of age.

    http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2010/06/10/how-coppa-fails-parents-educators-youth.html

  41. Underage facebook accounts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I didn't know there was an age limit. I am sure that most of my daughter's fifth grade class is on facebook. Actually, if parents have access to their younger kids' facebook accounts, and they should, it is a great way of keeping track of what is going on at school. As with adults, kids don't know when to shut up on facebook, and they say things they wouldn't say in person

  42. Hardly stupid by Adayse · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I've been thinking that Facebook accounts for my kids, 5 and 7, might encourage them to learn to read and write.

    1. Re:Hardly stupid by endymion.nz · · Score: 2

      You have 5 and 7 year olds and you're only just thinking about teaching them to read and write now?

      You're an American aren't you? :)

      --
      mediocrity rules, man
    2. Re:Hardly stupid by Adayse · · Score: 1

      A swede and a kiwi, an american would want their kids to read by 4. In Sweden school starts at 7 and when they are done they write better english than your average kiwi.

  43. For the games... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My 5 year old who can't read has an account. She is friends with her mother and myself. I have everything locked down to "super private" and there is no information about her on there. People can even hit the "add as friend" button.

    But, she can play Happy Pets and Chocobo's Dungeon. Put those games on an independent platform and I'd gladly let her play them minus FB, but that's not how it is.

  44. think the kids don't know about those? by r00t · · Score: 1

    I don't think you were 18 or even 13 when you learned about the concept. I was 6 to 9 years old when I was discussing them with my classmates and looking at porn.

    The law that makes Facebook restrict age and ultimately makes kids lie is idiotic. It is one of the many crappy laws passed back when normal non-nerd people were terrified of the internet.

  45. Reporting them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I personally don't let my kids on Facebook, even the two that are 12. They've all a number of friends who are also 12 and under who do have accounts (which get suggested to me as my wife and I are friends with parents and teachers who are friends of these kids).

    I sure wish there was a way to report them to Facebook to have their accounts zapped (or at least flagged to be verified in some way). Clearly from the content posted the parents aren't monitoring them live, nor even looking at what they post on each other's walls from day to day.

  46. Popular in the 10-12 range by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Just yesterday I did a computer science demo for a large batch of fifth and sixth graders (ages 10-12).... I asked them what they used their computers for, and it was unanimous: "Facebook!"

  47. What about banning parents in Facebook? by garompeta · · Score: 2
    I am tired of moms contaminating walls asking if they did their homework or to watch the language.
    -"Mom, stop treating me like a kid."
    -"You will always be my kid"
    -"Mooom, I am 30 years old..."
    -"Hush, are you eating well? You look skinny".
    .

    Parental participation should be illegal.
    It was hard enough to move out from the basement, Facebook is the nightmare for overprotected kids: it is the digital basement. Forever... and ever... and ever... (curled up in fetal position)

    1. Re:What about banning parents in Facebook? by gullevek · · Score: 1

      Well put your mom on list and make the list to not see anything. Problem solved.
      Or just don't add them in Facebook.

      --
      "Freiheit ist immer auch die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1871 - 1919
  48. Re:Lying about age? by auLucifer · · Score: 1

    He's never attempted to hide it. I don't think he uses "Sock Puppets" in the tradition sense, I think he just likes having his name show up 15 different ways. It's very odd.

    Or maybe he just likes to boost his own ratings from the moderator points he gets in the other accounts. Doesn't seem to be working out so well though

    --
    If I was witty I'd put something funny here but, as it stands, I am not and have just wasted seconds of your life
  49. Re:Lying about age? by Phoghat · · Score: 1
    From your sig :

    You “pay” attention (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy) by clicking over to a site. And if you like what you see on a site, you might mention it to friends, or link to it on your blog or from your website, enhancing its reputation. And since many businesses and netizens have found ways to convert “wealth” in the attention and reputation economies into the kind of wealth that they can deposit in banks, maybe we need to come to a new understanding of free.

    Sounds like whuffie to me

    --
    Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
  50. Re:Lying about age? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He becomes censored from slashdot [...] The moderation system has become a tool of censorship. It is broken.

    It's not censorship to call a spade a spade. Or in this case, call a troll a troll. Because that is all that is happening here. Your strong history of trolling is coming back to bite you in the ass.

    Have a nice day. :)