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Over 7.5 Million Facebook Users Are Under 13
liqs8143 writes "Of the 20 million minors who actively used Facebook in the past year, 7.5 million of them were younger than 13, according to projections from Consumer Reports' latest State of the Net survey. Facebook's terms of service require users to be at least 13 years old. Also among this group of minors using Facebook, more than 5 million were 10 and under. Consumer Reports' survey found that their accounts were largely unsupervised by their parents, exposing them to malware or serious threats such as predators or bullies."
I'm 12 years old and what is this?
There is no way it is that few.
So a full third of Facebook's viewers are 13 or under. That is actually kind of a shocking statistic. I am sure glad I am not one of those new investors they recently took on. This is going to by a buy high sell low event for most of them is my guess. Facebook is following the pattern of MySpace and is about out of steam is my guess.
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That just indicates the terms of service need to be changed. There is nothing wrong with young children using a website. Does 4chan have terms of service?
Facebook doesn't put a gun to their head and require them to open accounts.
I detest Facebook and every dullard who uses that shitty site, but this is hardly FB's fault.
Didn't you know? They've had a opt-out for years now, although there is no link to it, you just kind of have to know how to do it
http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=i_am_13_and_want_to_be_opted_out_of_exploitation/yes/yes_i_really_want_to/yes_im_sure/yes_i_agree_to_tos/
..and thought "Huh, well, that explains it I guess".
What's your point? It's the internet...anything goes
"Serious threats"! :rolleyes:
This is just plain part of the discovery of what works & what doesn't work socially that people have to go through in order to grow up. And I say "people", not "children", as many adult-aged people still haven't shown any signs of social maturity. :-P
how many are actually under 13? I mean really.... Who puts in their correct age?
There was an unknown error in the submission.
The problem here isn't Facebook, it's bad parenting. We let our 8 and 9 year old use Facebook. The computer is in the living room where we can see what they're doing, we vet all their friends and generally keep an eye on things. They're not stupid, if they don't know someone who requests their friendship, they block them straight away without us having to intervene. They thoroughly enjoy playing a lot of the games on there and why shouldn't they?
Facebook isn't inherently evil and something that we should keep kids away from. They've got just as much chance getting nonced up on one of the kiddy branded sites like Mushi Monsters or Panfu. Funnily enough, they haven't been.
Malware is a problem, as are sexual predators. Bullies on the other hand, can be found on any playground. Online bullies have words as their weapons, whereas the offline version use their fists. To pretend that the online variety are a special threat is ridiculous. If junior can't handle someone saying mean things about him online then he'll always be a momma's boy.
That being said, I think it is a good thing that younger people are choosing to immerse themselves in Facebook and other forms of social media.
Muslim community leaders warn of backlash from tomorrow morning's terrorist attack.
Because children are culpable for their actions and know from a very early age about all of the dangers of using the internet, giving away personal information, and can accurately assess the risks involved with using social networking services. They also know, from birth, that roads are dangerous places, they shouldn't pick up used needles, and daddy's shotgun doesn't fire blanks.
children are stupid. The ones under 13 are very, very stupid. I know this because I work in education and have done for almost a decade. If they are unsupervised, they will press every button and click every link which has anything remotely to do with getting what they want, and no EULA will stop them.
This sits squarely on the parents. Not Facebook, not the children, but mom and dad who are fed up of bringing up their child and just want them to hit 18 ASAP. I'm not saying they should shoulder-surf 24/7 and only let them play Happy Fun Playground with Ponies and Sprinkles games, but actually taking the time to become involved in their internet use, or encouraging them in talking about the cool things they've learned or found, would be a start.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
... no matter how much they pester you for it. Because a 13-year old typically doesn't know that visitor information is not exposed in the facebook API. (Neither does the typical adult, unfortunately) So, when an app promises to give it to her, she may believe it when she is told [random dude chosen by the app] visits her profile ten times every day. That is bad for an adult, whose friends suddenly thinks he's an obsessive, creepy stalker - but if the app-clicker is underage, those people may think you're a pedophile as well.
It happened to a journalist whose blog I read, I've experienced similar things myself (though not quite that bad).
xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
the internet: where the men are men, the women are men, and Over 7.5 Million Facebook Users Are FBI agents.
Look where all this talking got us, baby.
If Consumer Reports has such a sophisticated method to accurately determine the age millions of of Facebook users, why don't they share their method with Facebook so they can improve their policy enforcement?
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
I know I may have sneered at "Think of the Children Arguments" in the past but I loathe Facebook and all it stands for so I am ready to compromise my principles in order to help ferment an unstoppable outpouring of public outrage against it.
Glen Quagmire approves this post! Giggity giggity goo! Heh heh, alright!
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
Oh my nursing Athena. Is this what Slashdot has some to? Really? This is the quality of stories we get? "Exposing them to" -- gasp-- "malware or" -- gasp -- "serious threats such as predators" -- gasp-- "or bullies."
Give me a break. Where did the submitter grow up, in a test tube? With eighteen parents and doctors watching every move?
Someone please post the submitters' physical address. Please. I'd like to deliver a Darwin award invitation. Before s/he manages to escape parental supervision, stub a toe, and die from an infection of the hangnail.
Read this in the paper today. Kids think having a fb account is like having some thing out of the ordinary. They should get proper counselling from their parents about it. Who knows, this kids may even end up with teen age pregancy just coz of this ignorance from their parents.
Facebook chooses advertising profit (all those users) over actively enforcing their TOS.
Facebook should be fined for this predatory practice. This is a nasty exploitation of children.
Just as a matter of interest how do you think they could enforce it? How would you know that someone claiming to be 22 year old Mike Smith form Luton or 20 year-old Nalini Kapur from Mumbai are really the age they claim to be?
I would imagine most 13 year olds are more up to speed with the dangers of malware, etc., than most people over 40. As for other risks - certainly predators might be drawn to such places, but I would imagine that most 13 year olds would give these relatively ancient guys serious abuse - it's the 13 year old depressive loners who are looking for attention who are most vulnerable and those vulnerabilities will be rooted in their life away from Facebook, not due to Facebook. Moreover, abusers are almost always known to kids, a family member, etc.. What would be nice, however, is if Facebook did a little more for kids who are looking for help. There are unique opportunities for kids to find help when they might never have bothered.
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Get em while there young.
And why is this stupid (apart from ignoring the TOS which most people are not even aware of)?
Isn't it better for kids to learn how to use Facebook under parental supervision, then out of it? Same arguments as with parents allowing there kids to drink at home in small quantities, apart from Facebook use has far less negative consequences then alcohol. In the Western world kids probably have an equal chance of using Facebook and drinking alcohol when they grow up, anyway.
Also it seems that the parents in your example are using Facebook, how it is designed to be used: to share photos, etc and keep in touch with family and friends. Personally I'm surprised Facebook hasn't created a child account with parental controls yet.
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it is not facebooks' responsibility to keep it 'safe' for children in the same way it is not the state's responsibility to keep interstate roads safe for kids.. it's the job of the parents to keep kids away from the interstate unless properly restrained in a vehicle..even then there are no guarantees..
children are stupid. The ones under 13 are very, very stupid. I know this because I work in education and have done for almost a decade.
Nice generalisation there.
Facebook, and many other social network sites, ignore children. Wouldn't it be far better to officially allow access to the site for people of any age, but set a much more restrictive default set of privacy settings for those under 13? I think they already do this for anyone age 13-17.
And how many of those minors where in countries with vastly different cultures than the US, where using the full potential of the internet at age 10 is not seen as dangerous, and where the kids have been tought to handle it?
This is a surprise?
Facebook, and many other social network sites, ignore children.
Because if they explicitly cater to them, they'd have to create kid safe content, supervise all interactions, certify everyone's age, and at the same time not be able to exploit them in the same way as users assumed to be adults. Much easier just to let the kids lie and then treat them as adults.
"Over 7.5 Million Facebook Users Are Under 13 61"
Got to love Slashdot's broken layout, showing me the number of comments right there in the headline. Still, this one made me giggle:
"AMD To Support Coreboot On All Upcoming Processors 133"
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
Nice generalisation there.
Generalisations, like rumours, often have some small truth to them. I could count on my two hands (and name) the kids who I know had Facebook accounts and knew the risks, yet I know from checking the proxy logs how many tried to access Facebook from the school. It was easily in the top 5 sites students attempted to visit.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Facebook should be fined for this predatory practice. This is a nasty exploitation of children.
It's not facebook's fault, it's the parents'.
Hello,
Well I am friends with a rabbit and a dog on facebook. I know dog-years are 7 human years so the dog is ok, but does anyone know the rabbit-human age conversion factor?
Thanks in advance,
Bob.
Just adding in, that while yes, most children are stupid, their are many out there that are much more mature than most adults.
I'm not saying they should shoulder-surf 24/7 and only let them play Happy Fun Playground with Ponies and Sprinkles games
Those are one of the worst kinds of parents.
In other news, millions of children are sent by their parents to school everyday where they are exposed to new ideas and serious threats such as potential predators or bullies.
Over 7.5M FBI's accounts on Facebook ... and they are men.
FTFA: "âoeWhatâ(TM)s even more troubling was the finding from our survey that indicated that a majority of parents of kids 10 and under seemed largely unconcerned by their childrenâ(TM)s use of the site.â
But, we're telling them to be scared. Why aren't they scared? These parents must be the same insane lunatics that use craigslist when you know you will be killed if you do. These kids could be bullied, you know. Unlike real life, there's no way to avoid the person or never hear what they say on facebook. They also could have their identity stolen which will just trash their credit score, and if you've got heavy credit card debt at 13, you'll be paying it off the rest of your life.
You should do as the article suggests and have facebook delete the account using the "report an underage child" form. Because a child needs to feel secure that they can tell you anything and know that you'll report them to the relevant authorities immediately. This proves to them how much that they can trust you.
This sentence no verb.
And 23.5 million other users appear to be cats!
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
Cut down to only allow email@schoolname.edu accounts like the good ole days.
Pedobear approves!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Ok, someone please tell me that this whole Facebook thing is a fad. Please. I'm beggin here. So, by it's own name facebook is all about your own face. That makes it totally Narcissistic. Twitter is all about tweeting your bits of info to as many people as possible, Root word here being twit? So, put them together and your a narcissistic twit if you use these services? Not really trolling here, trying to get a feel for what others here think about Facebook and Twitter.
This aint Daytona and you aint Dale Earnhardt. So stop trying to draft on Interstate 40.
mom and dad who are fed up of bringing up their child and just want them to hit 18 ASAP.
I'd say that covers approximately 99% of parents I know, the other 1% being baby fetishist contol freaks.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
If you're under 30, depending on your circle of friends, it can be nearly impossible to get a girlfriend or get invited to parties if you're not on Facebook.
I can now feel good about being old. That sounds like some sort of 1950s US teen B-move/Brave New World nightmare.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
"Serious threats"! :rolleyes:
This is just plain part of the discovery of what works & what doesn't work socially that people have to go through in order to grow up. And I say "people", not "children", as many adult-aged people still haven't shown any signs of social maturity. :-P
Yup, there's nothing that can go wrong with children have unlimited access to the internet. After all, they're only using it to download Linux ISOs right?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Cat's out of the bag. Pandora's box has been opened.
You think you can limit your child's access to the internet? They'll get around anything you set up, anything your school sets up, or just go over to their friend's house where they've already gotten around it or weren't restricted in the first place.
Kids are vehement explorers, and if there's a place to explore they will do so. The only way to prevent them from doing so is to get their interests legitimately focused on exploring something else. (or drug/brainwash them)
I hope the feds don't come down on you for illegal access to a computer for violating Facebook's terms of service.
You should be fine as long as you don't live in one of the states covered by the 9th U.S. Circuit Circuit Court of Appeals.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
If you have an obviously legitimate reason to "friend" the kid and it's obvious to anyone reading the kid's page OR your page that there is a legitimate connection, then I don't see the problem.
Obvious reasons:
* You are a relative.
* Your kid is also a friend of the kid AND nobody will wonder why your kid and this kid are friends.
* You are using an "official" account like you are a schoolteacher using a special, non-personal account for official school business and you've friended all of your students.
Personally, I recommend middle- and high-schools not use "public" social-networking sites for official direct interaction with students. Either set up a "private" site or use some other means of communications, or limit Facebook/etc. communications to parents' accounts rather than students' accounts.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Previous slashdot article: http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/03/23/1237215/Facebook-Bans-20000-Kids-a-Day
It was 3.6 million in March, now its 7.5. Riiight.
Isn't it better for kids to learn how to use Facebook under parental supervision, then out of it?
No, for the same reason that society doesn't encourage parents to take illegal drugs and watch porn in front of (or with) their children.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Ask me how I know you are under 25, or dating someone under 25...
Cheap storage VM.
The 13 limit has to do with COPPA, so even if Facebook wanted to allow under 13s it can't legally without the guardian's permission.
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Some truth or not, I don't think you should be saying it in a way that sounds like a universal truth. Doing that, I could claim that every single human is an imbecile. It really depends on the individual, and you likely have to assess the individual for you to know if your generalization is true.
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
The 13 limit has to do with COPPA, so even if Facebook wanted to allow under 13s it can't legally without the guardian's permission.
Other websites manage, it's up to Facebook to do the right thing.
Or, perhaps, "It's okay to break dumb rules if you can get away with it."
Or, "It's okay to lie about your age on the internet."
Both of which are good lessons that need to be taught.
Yea, because there's so little difference between someone in their early 20s and someone who hasn't even reached puberty yet...
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
I work in IT and I'd recommend not letting any child under say 13 use the internet *at all*, nevermind FB. The internet is basically an adult zone, not a child's toy.
Yes, it's educational, and I'm all for exposing kids to technology and big ideas and playgrounds where they might god forbid actually get a grazed knee.
The web is vast and cool, but the sites kids would gravitate towards would be full of assholes, idiots, predators and .. well, other stupid kids. Kids do need to be protected from each other, probably more than anything else.
I believe there's value in letting a child grow up being able to generally TRUST their environment, and interactions with others. The internet is essentially a no-trust zone. So unless a parent IS going to shoulder-surf, you'd be better off giving them the cable remote than free reign on the web.
The child has to be old enough to be able to discern, for themselves, between positive sites and social connections, and negative ones. Even a lot of adults have trouble with that.
So in my minds, the risks are to great at the moment. Not until they work out some way of being able to offer children's content as securely as a locked TV remote, where if they don't know the PIN, there's no way in hell they can get onto the pron channel, or all the brain-numbing crap out there that adults can generally view with a sense of perspective.
Nope, it's Facebook's fault. They know about it yet they do nothing to stop it.
They are actively refusing to enforce their own ToS. By doing so, they rake in more advertising money.
The children are simply being exploited for advertising money.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
DMV-verifiable license/ID numbers.
It's TRIVIAL to implement. It gets used on a site I frequent quite often. ZERO children.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Like hell. I'm not giving my DL number to Facebook.
In several states you have to give it up to even get into a bar.
What makes you think this won't become the norm in the future?
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Those examples are very different. Most likely kids will never take illegal drugs and porn is taboo in our society. However it is very likely that kids will one day use Facebook or something similar.
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