Appropriate ages for various social media accounts

Social Media.  Its the new way we’re connected with loved ones, new acquaintances, and old friends.  It seems everyone is connected to some form of social media platform, and consequently, since everyone is doing it raises the question of “should my child have a social media account?”

Before any parent or guardian allows their child to open a social media account, reading the privacy policy is a must.  Each outlet has different privacy standards and an age requirement- YES.  Age requirements. COPPA–Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act- applies to the online collection of personal information from children under 13.  This protection gives parents control of what a child can share online under 13 years old, and therefore, most social media sites will not allow underage children to open an account. But some parents find the requirement of a certain age to be a mere recommendation,  which should not be the case.  

A survey of 1,007 parents of 10-14 year old’s concluded that…

– 55% of parents of 12 year olds report their child has a Facebook account.

-76% of the parents assisted their 12 year old in creating the account.

-78%  of the parents surveyed think it is acceptable for their child to violate minimum age restrictions on online services.

We’ve linked to the most popular social media privacy policies and their age restrictions below.  As parents/guardians its our responsibility to follow the rules and with this in mind, if your child is begging to open an account, or has already, please review each privacy policy.

FB 13

Tagged 18

Ask.fm 13

Twitter 13

Linkedin 13

Pinterest 13

Google+ 13

Tumblr 13

Instagram 13

Vine 13

The Huffington Post Tech published a post on the importance of following the age requirements on social media.  We’ve linked the post below.

Reasons why age restrictions matter. 

Our kids grow up too fast, and if most kids are like my own, they want to be ‘grown up’ right now!  They want to be involved in social media, so teaching them the importance of waiting until the appropriate age required and following the rules will only benefit them in the long run. In due time your kids be flooded with friend requests before they, and you, know it.