Social media is booming and can be a innovative and helpful way to connect with people, either in a personal or professional manner. It can be entertaining and fun, however we must also look at other aspects that might be concerning.One of these aspects is the ages of people using social media. How young is appropriate to be online?
As of today, the minimum age for social media ranges depending on the media platform but for the most part, 13 seems to be the set age. This doesn’t stop alot of people ages 10-12 from creating profiles anyways. There seems to be easy ways to fake your information in order to sign up. In fact, in 2014 a survey completed in the UK showed that more then half of children used social media by the age of 10 and 52% ages 8-16 ignored minimum age restrictions in place.
There are risks in everything around us, however with the internet and social media it can be far worse off. This is especially true with those under the age of 13 who may not realize the risks they are taking by posting online. With everything from cyber bullying which includes generalized harassment, threats, exposure to sexually explicit material (unwanted pictures received) pressure into sexual behavior (sending pictures to others of body parts) to potential stalking , the risks for youths are that much higher then with the vast majority of social media users.
Cyberbullying has become a new statistic in the world today. It seems like alot of people figure that if its not face to face, they can say whatever they want and there is no consequences. They dont realize the harm they might be doing to the person on the other end of the comments. In 2016, 42% of youth reported being harassed online and the number of suicides of youth linked to cyberbullying is on the rise.
People also dont seem to realize that what they share online can be potentially dangerous. Information such as phone numbers, emails , sometimes even addresses can fall into the wrong hands and therefore create a dangerous situation. Sometimes you may not even realize that you have shared online. For example:When you take a picture the location where you took that picture is embedded due to your phone’s geotracking function. If you post the photo online ,someone with no so good intentions could find you quite easily.
Even with all the risks, it has been reported that in 2011, Mark Zuckerberg wanted the age limit for Facebook to be done away with completely. He claimed that it was for “educational” purposes and that they would do whatever it took to keep kids safe.As of today, the age limit still stands at 13, so I guess his plans didn’t work out.
I personally think that even 13 can be young as some 13 year olds are not as matured as others and might not be able to handle social media and the possible scenarios that comes with it.
What do you think? Is there a point to having a age limit with social media if kids can just sign up anyways?
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