Back to School, Facebook, and Underage Users

The world is whirling around us this time of year, especially for kids returning to school, not to mention, their parents. For those kids who have a summer of gaming and playing on Facebook, it is going to be a new, but familiar, reality of hitting the books and leaving Facebook as a potential reward after their grades are solidified.

That all depends on the rules at home, however. Last fall, the Los Angeles Times ran a story about a survey that Microsoft ran, entitled, “Survey: Parents lie to help preteens get on Facebook.” Have these parents been “found out” by Facebook, as the online giant moves to eradicate false accounts, duplicate accounts, and bots? Will Facebook be helping preteens with their homework, by giving them more free time, by eradicating their underage Facebook accounts, along with those for puppies, kittens, and the really underage newborn babies?

According to the Huffington Post (and a plethora of other credible news sources!), “Facebook Has 83 Million ‘Fake’ Or Duplicate Users, About 8.7 Percent Of All Active Accounts” and will be purging those accounts soon. Now maybe there is a new incentive to the “old fashioned” going to school versus the six year old playing on Facebook… For now.

Some have claimed that Facebook and social media aren’t necessarily a bad thing. An article by Gail Gardner, of GrowMap.com shows an infographic by Masters in Education illustrating the benefits that social media could have on the student, young or old.

Whether you are on the side of students using (or playing) on Facebook or not, Facebook’s newest move has us watching to see how far the purging will go. On that note, will I be seeing you on Facebook this week?