Star of the social networking field Facebook has been at the centre of controversy recently, thanks to the suggestion from the CEO that age restrictions should be removed.
Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has said he believes children ages 13 and younger should be allowed to access the social networking site for the benefit of their education.
Speaking during the New Schools Venture Fund's Summit in California, Zuckerberg said he expected education to become more social in the future, in the same way already seen in health, retail and finance sectors.
At the summit, which explored innovation in education, the Facebook founder explained he was passionate about education reform. Zuckerberg was relaxed as he spoke about the subject with interviewer, and venture capitalist, John Doerr.
He claimed letting younger children interact with social sites could prove beneficial for them in the long term. SEO experts Queryclick.com said the young star of the social scene has a valid point, although he may find it difficult to win over his dissenters. "Social media has really exploded in the last few years, making it obvious to any doubters that the medium is here to stay,” said a spokesperson.
"Many young children are already very savvy when it comes to social networking, but many retain massive security concerns, which were born in an earlier era of the internet."
As it currently stands, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) mandates that websites that collect information about users (like Facebook does) aren't allowed to sign on anyone under the age of 13.
However, this is something Zuckerberg wants to change. He wants children under the age of 13 to be allowed to access his site, although, due to the restrictions now in place, he concedes the company has not yet put much thought into a plan for keeping children safe on the site. Should the restrictions be lifted, he plans to spend a lot of energy in creating a way for children to use Facebook safely.
Zuckerberg also shared the opinion that, when it came to education, children had to start learning at a very young age.
This is a bold move for the young entrepreneur, said the search engine optimisation experts: "Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook already have an uneasy relationship with many web users who are concerned about privacy, and his comments could be adding fuel to an already substantial fire.
"But we think he’s smart to recognise the potential of catering to younger children on Facebook, they will be the future of the site, and there’s already anecdotal evidence to suggest they are keen to be using it already."
(EDITOR: What do YOU think, parents? Should younger children have access to Facebook, etc? Do your children already use it? You can either comment on this story or email your opinions to afj_uk@yahoo.com, subject line Young Facebook users.)
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