3.6 million: the estimated number of underage Facebook users per month. 20,000: the number of underage Facebook profiles taken down every day (link).
Clearly, underage users make up a significant portion of the Facebook population despite the age requirement of thirteen years. This policy is implemented for good reason, too, as cyberbullying, online predators, and computer viruses may be bypassed. However, it would be interesting to take a look at why Facebook should not have this age requirement.
First of all and most superficially, Facebook can improve typing skills. I know that I personally learned how to type accurately and quickly through Yahoo! Messenger and online role playing games, and this has benefitted me in numerous (and sometimes subtly) situations. I’d be the first to claim that I’m not the best typist in the world, but my skills were honed through constant chatting in those chat-room-like conditions, and Facebook would foster children’s improvements in typing.
Second, those same chat-room-like conditions may allow children to better develop social skills. Facebook is pretty much a virtual world, in which people may hide behind avatars (albeit avatars of their own face) and discuss any variety of topics. Games exist to strengthen friendships, and kids would be exposed to other aspects of social beings like music and television. By friending adults like their parents and older siblings, they will learn the societal norms of maintaining friendships and holding conversations. Facebook is less exclusive than the childish friendship circles of middle school, so a greater sense of equality and friendliness will be present. Through chatting with friends and posting interesting media to friends’ walls, more ideas will be spread and kids will learn more about themselves and their friends.
Third, the current age requirement is as good as useless. All one needs is an email address, a name, and a birthday to join Facebook. I remember getting my first email address at 9 years of age, so technically, I could join Facebook with a false birthday when I was only nine. Of course, Facebook algorithms try their best to identify age requirement infringements, but the vast majority of these cases slip by. As long as kids want to join, they will have the means and capacity to join, whether it’s by lying on their own or having a parent sign up for them. Even now, only the ones who really want to join end up violating the requirement, as the rest of underage kids go about their business without Facebook.
As for the activists concerned about cyberbullying, bullying occurs anyways. Whether it’s at school or at the playground, kids can get bullied. Keeping kids away from Facebook will not make potential bullying of the kids disappear.
As for the activists concerned about privacy, make the kids friend their parents or let the parents be able to sign in onto the kids account to monitor them. If parents are irresponsible enough to neglect online privacy of their kids, that blame should be placed on them.
As for the activists concerned about viruses and inappropriate images, the internet is already rife with those. A misspelled web address, an accidental click of a malicious advertisement, a single minute without antivirus protection could result in viruses and inappropriate material flooding the computer. Prohibiting Facebook will not solve nearly all of these problems. Good monitoring and solid antivirus protection will.