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Google+ Officially Open To Teens

Posted by timothy on from the rebellion-doesn't-spring-to-mind dept.

hypnosec writes "Google+ made a landmark move and opened itself to users who are over the age of 13. Google+ did not initially target the younger crowd and kept itself available only for users above the age of 18. While opening up to youngsters over the age of 13 the social network also added improved safety features to keep the younger crowd protected. Now it features more rigid default settings for privacy, but they can be overridden nonetheless. The vice president of product management at Google+, Bradley Horowitz, in a Google+ post stated, 'With Google+, we want to help teens build meaningful connections online. We also want to provide features that foster safety alongside self-expression. Today we're doing both, for everyone who's old enough for a Google Account.'"

8 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. And nothing changes... by watermark · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Tell a thirteen year old they can't sign up for something they want and you'll see how many of them were born in 1990.

    1. Re:And nothing changes... by CAIMLAS · · Score: 5, Funny

      At first I thought, "yeah, so?" and then I realized that people born in 1990 are no longer 13, they're 22 now.

      God, I feel old.

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      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
  2. core demographic by tverbeek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So they've figured out that grown-ups don't drive the popularity of social networking sites?

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    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
  3. Coolio by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's really cool, because I'm also a 13 year old teen (male) and am looking for cool online friendships with nice chicks. My hobbies are: /., programming microcontrollers with Ada, helicopter simulations, and long-term role-playing games (BDSM/TPE) over Google Video chat.

    1. Re:Coolio by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why did you list programming in Ada separately from BDSM?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  4. Should have done this a long time ago by cullen_johnson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was always kind of surprised that they hadn't done this already. The only way for a general-purpose social network like G+ to compete with facebook is to win the younger generation of social networkers. They can't expect everyone to leave facebook and their 1000+ friends just for a cleaner interface and about 50 friends.

  5. Do they have to use their real names? by Sark666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would think being able to use a nickname would add a level of privacy.

    1. Re:Do they have to use their real names? by Karlb · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Remind me, what part of joining a social networking site is about privacy?

      --
      When all else fails, you've won.