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Facebook Considers Lifting Age Restrictions

Facebook is apparently exploring ways to open the site to children younger than 13, the current and widely flouted age restriction for users.

The move, first reported in the Wall Street Journal Monday, is intended to both allow parents to better supervise children who are on Facebook and to capture a piece of the children’s advertising market.

The company might, for instance, create a type of account for kids that would allow a parent’s oversight on who is “friended” and which applications are used.

At the same time, it would give brands a new route to an impressionable audience.

But, is Facebook just recognizing reality?

According to MinorMonitor, a children’s media watchdog group, a recent survey of 1000 parents of Facebook users revealed that 38 percent of children on Facebook are under 13.

Other estimates have suggested that about 7.5 million underage users are on the social media network

Source: Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/facebook-may-allow-users-under-13-to-register-how-this-change-could-impact-kids-parents-and-marketers/2012/06/04/gJQAfYrHEV_blog.html