Technology / Internet
Facebook targets kids
06 Jun 2011 at 11:14hrs | Views
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg welcomed more kids to join in the social network site, according to International Business Times reports on Monday.
He made this comment in the NewSchools Summit in California.
Zuckerberg said Facebood can help young kids to learn from each other and acquire more knowledge about using the internet.
"That will be a fight we take on at some point," Zuckerberg said, "My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age."
At the moment, Facebook officially does not allow the children younger than 13 to sign up, since the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) forbids children under 13 from joining an online service which collects user information data.
However it recently revealed that 7.5 million Facebook users were younger than that, accoding to a study released last week by Consumer Reports.
Some experts suggested Facebook may not be in any position to provide that education in its current form.
"The lessons of digital citizenship have to start young, but I don't feel that Facebook is the venue to have those lessons occur. A lot of missteps happen on that site without a lot of coaching." said Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, an expert on young children's education.
He made this comment in the NewSchools Summit in California.
Zuckerberg said Facebood can help young kids to learn from each other and acquire more knowledge about using the internet.
"That will be a fight we take on at some point," Zuckerberg said, "My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age."
However it recently revealed that 7.5 million Facebook users were younger than that, accoding to a study released last week by Consumer Reports.
Some experts suggested Facebook may not be in any position to provide that education in its current form.
"The lessons of digital citizenship have to start young, but I don't feel that Facebook is the venue to have those lessons occur. A lot of missteps happen on that site without a lot of coaching." said Dr. Gwenn O'Keeffe, an expert on young children's education.
Source - Xinhuanet
