Zheng’s blog post explored children on Facebook, and his own views on why the age limit of 13 should be lifted.  But it got me thinking – why is there an age limit on Facebook? Zheng mentioned “cyberbullying, online predators, and computer viruses,” but is it more than that?

I began my research by trying to understand the logic behind Facebook’s official policy.  As it turns out, the age restriction is not one put in place because Facebook has a fundamental problem with preteens using social media networks.  Instead, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) mandates the age restriction.  The law, signed in 1998 and put into effect in 2000, prohibits websites that “collect personal information” from allowing children under 13 to join.

As we have discussed in length during class, Facebook collects personal information about all users, and is thus unable to allow younger children to join.  This surprised me – I had thought, as Zheng speculated, the policy had some moral or ethical implications about Facebook’s beliefs.  They did not want children on their site, thought people of that age were not ready for social media, wanted to protect against bullying, etc.  Alas, however, that is not the case.  Facebook is merely following the law.

This gave me cause to wonder, however, why this is the case.  Why can information not be collected about children under the age of 13, and why should this mean people of that age group should not use a social media website.  Last year, Mark Zuckerberg told CNN that he hopes to lift the age restriction from Facebook.  As Zheng argued, Zuckerberg believes kids could benefit educationally from the site.  However, he could not really comment on how exactly they would benefit, as the current law has not allowed for experimentation on the subject.

Can Zuckerberg fight COPPA and win? Should he?  Although I was initially incorrect about the reasons behind the age restriction, I still believe there may be social and ethical motivations for an age limit.  Many people, including myself, think Facebook can hinder social skills if used at too young of an age.  As preteens, these children are learning how to act in new situations, and Facebook could just give them a wall to hide behind socially.  Some could cyberbully, while others could choose Internet interactions of face-to-face ones.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Facebook, but I believe it can help social situations and interactions only after one has learned how to act and be comfortable socially in real life.  I also fail to see the educational purpose – although I would be interested to hear if Zuckerberg ever puts out any concrete examples.