What is an appropriate age to use social networks?

[mightynancy]

Trust is something that has to be earned. In order to let your kid earn it, though, you have to let him take a little risk. My son earned some trust by going to friends' homes, calling to let me know where he was, and being home when I expected him to. He earned the right to a little more freedom. I let him go to a Halloween party. The party migrated from the home of a friend of his whose parents I know to a house with no parents at home (an 18-year-old sister was "in charge"). He lost my trust by not being where he said he would be (and I earned more respect for being able to tell he was lying via text, LOL). Now he is in the process of re-earning the trust. All of this is happening while he's 15. The party, while it wasn't where I had been told it would be, was tame, and none of his friends are of driving age. The stakes are still low. As he grows, he will get just as much trust as he earns. I am giving him the freedom to re-earn it, so that he'll know what's right. If I controlled every little thing, he'd never learn.

[Guest Alana]

I don't' think that monitoring kids needs to be so much about controlling them, but letting them do their thing and you can step in so things don't become dangerous. For instance. I saw that my 12 y/o sister had some people following her youtube channel that I was suspicious of (not getting into if my sister needs to be posting videos of her singing and dancing right now) and instead of saying 'hey, who are these people? Do you think this is safe?' and grilling her, making her defensive or embarrassed or have her thinking I'm over acting I instead just chatted her up and mentioned I'd had some weird people try to be friends with me on youtube who I didn't know, and how there are creepy guys on there sometimes etc. Within 24 hours she took them off her friends list and made it so that only people she knew could see her videos.

[Dravin]

At 13 most are mature enough to know how to act online.

See, if you'd ever been a Mod or been to a gaming website you'd know better.

[Guest Alana]

See, if you'd ever been a Mod or been to a gaming website you'd know better.

It's true. I barely stopped myself from posting on the Gospel Discussion page on the post about when Jesus was born from replying 'It was on Caturday!!!'

[Bini]

My parents were older (in their 40's) when they adopted me and my sister. So by the time we were preteens/teenagers messing around on the computer, they were clueless of how the internet functioned or what its purpose even was. It's only been within the last six years or so that my mum has learned how to use email. But my point is, we were never taught "internet safety" or what is and isn't appropriate conduct while online. Fortunately, my parents were assertive in other areas and made clear how we should protect ourselves from iffy situations and to use good judgment. I think that's key.

As for Fb.. I've only had an account for the last couple years, maybe three at the most. When kids become apart of the picture, I'll apply the same things my parents taught me, so hopefully they'll use their own good judgment in their actions (at home or at a friend's house).

[desireeH]

I started using social networks when I was 15. In my opinion, kids can also use Internet but it is very important to supervise them. Social networking is the fastest-growing mobile activity right now. Since mobile phone is very portable, you can also have your internet connection where you have your phone. Mobile usage statistics on Facebook and Twitter have been growing. The newest stats say that almost half of all social network traffic originates from mobile phones. Source of article: 40 percent of Facebook visits happen via mobile app

[dahlia]

You guys probably don't realize this, but the person who teaches internet safety in most colleges is the - librarian. Yup. When I teach information policy, a portion of what we cover is teaching safe internet use as well as letting students know about illegal downloading and how they can lose privileges on the university system if they engage in illegal activities.

I mention this because I would hope that kids would learn about this stuff long before they get to college, but apparently they don't.

In addition to these issues, I think parents/teachers/librarians should inform about online bullying. Obviously you don't want your kid to engage in it, but you also want your child to feel free to come to you if they are the target.

If my son were a young teen, I'd say 13 or so is OK, with training on safety and illegal activity. I'd have to know the password and be able to shut him out. Oh, the power!

[Guest]

I just had a conversation with my 10-year-old yesterday about "hacking" a paid download. There's this kid PC game - can't remember the name, has something to do with building blocks - that the neighbor has. My kid asked me if he can download the game. I ask him how much it is and he answered - it's $9.99 if you download it but I can get it for free from <friend> because he has a hack for it.

I looked my son in the eye and realized - after all these conversations we had about internet safety, bullying, porn, etc. etc. that we've had for years and years, I somehow missed to properly teach him about stealing via internet...

[Dravin]

I looked my son in the eye and realized - after all these conversations we had about internet safety, bullying, porn, etc. etc. that we've had for years and years, I somehow missed to properly teach him about stealing via internet...

I find a lot of people don't think twice about such, less so programs and more so music. Of course it doesn't even have to be over the internet. A lot of people don't think through accepting a burned copy of an album.

[dahlia]

I find a lot of people don't think twice about such, less so programs and more so music. Of course it doesn't even have to be over the internet. A lot of people don't think through accepting a burned copy of an album.

You may want to look at Larry Lessig's works on Creative Commons, a type of copyright that retains rights in the author, but permits varying types of copying.

Lessig, a Constitutional lawyer, maintains that we are turning millions of people into criminals because the notion of copyright and ownership have not changed with technology. If you made a tape copy of a vinyl record and lent it to a friend, are you stealing? Most people would say no, because they bought the original record. Do you know that some DRM (digital rights management) programs will restrict you from using music that you bought on computer, on another? But you bought it! Couple that type of Draconian control with technology that makes downloading so easy and seamless some people truly do not know when they are 'stealing,' and it can be difficult to know where the boundaries are.

I love this stuff - it's messy, it's real life, it's technology, and you've got millions of young people who are not going to continue to be bound by archaic rules that don't address how they use tech.

[Guest]

If you made a tape copy of a vinyl record and lent it to a friend, are you stealing? Most people would say no, because they bought the original record.

Lent it, no. Gave it, yes. Downloading hack is not lending - it's giving.

DRM security is transportable across devices as long as the device is registered under your account.

[Saldrin]

Social networks being: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc etc..

I believe all of these require users to be at least 13-years of age or older to register. What is an appropriate age to use social networks in your opinion? Is it really an issue of one's age or one's maturity? Should some social networks be more restrictive than others? At what age did you first start using social networks? And what age will you allow your children to start using them?

They should be 45:D

[Dravin]

You may want to look at Larry Lessig's works on Creative Commons, a type of copyright that retains rights in the author, but permits varying types of copying.

I'm aware of Creative Commons (and there are other share friendly licences out there), obviously if the owner of an item gives you permission to do something you can (within reason) do it. Much like how eating my Snickers changes from theft to perfectly acceptable when I tell you that you can do so.

some people truly do not know when they are 'stealing,' and it can be difficult to know where the boundaries are.

I don't expect them to be lawyers (or librarians), but some things like, "I just downloaded 9 gigs of Metallica from Pirate's Bay, want a copy?" or burning a copy of the latest album you bough to give to all your friends is something most people should be aware of, and I think on some level they are. When challenged most people will concede the law isn't happy with their behavior (whether you think the law should be unhappy, or one is otherwise justified is another debate) they just don't think things through before doing them because a fair amount of other people do it and it is 'victimless' and the likelihood that Johnny Law is going to kick down your door for 'recreational' use is all but non-existent. If you want you could liken it to speeding, a fair number of people do it without thinking, "Let's engage in some illegal behavior and lay on the accelerator a little."

As far as your post is aimed at pointing out that copyright law isn't as simple and clear cut as something like speeding, I agree and understand. I also confess I don't know all the nuances myself. But what I'm mainly talking about is 'sharing' music which is only a subset of copyright law, which as you pointed out is a lot more than, "Thou shalt not 'share'." And I probably fall under not thinking it through from time to time myself, it's just once upon a time I had a huge 'sharing' problem (music, videos, and programs), I've since repented (and yes, I felt like it was something to repent of) and thus I'm probably more aware than your average bear.

Edited January 4, 2012 by Dravin

[dahlia]

it's just once upon a time I had a huge 'sharing' problem (music, videos, and programs), I've since repented (and yes, I felt like it was something to repent of) and thus I'm probably more aware than your average bear.

Many of us have repented, Brother, and gone on to preach the word to those still mired in sin.

And yeah, if you download the entire Bob Dylan collection, you know what you're doing. However, there are still people who think that if they 'can' get if off of the internet, then they were 'supposed' to be able to have it. They don't think of ownership, copyright, etc. and the ease of downloading makes it very easy to not think about it. Also, many groups make music freely available online (Smashing Pumpkins as one example) and it may be harder for young, inexperienced internet users to understand that not everyone does that.

[Guest sumit93]

An appropriate age to join social network sites would be 13 plus. But I've join social networks sites after being 18 and now i become three year old member in facebook