Review 3: "Social networks and kids: how young is too young?"

Link to article
Goss, Doug. “Social networks and kids: how young is too young?” CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/02/kids.social.networks/index.html (accessed November 5, 2009).

Facebook and Myspace technically don't allow users younger than 13 years old... but they have no real way of verifying this information. Young users who are quick on the uptake can easily fudge their birthdate. This can create issues for parents, children, and librarians.

Firstly, scientists have concerns that early Internet use can have negative effects on brain development, and can lead to Internet addiction in adults. However, early adolescents (also known as "tweens") have not really been studied as much as teenagers. One researcher notes, "Children today have spent their whole lives on computers, and their brains are better adapted than those of adults to integrate online activities with their offline lives."

Secondly, the Internet is not the safest place for young teenagers to poke around by themselves. Social networking inevitably means contacting strangers and talking to people who aren't familiar. Many parents are opposed to the idea of their kids talking to strangers (click here for more about stranger danger).

Thirdly, librarians and library staff do not have in loco parentis responsibilities. This means that they do not act in the place of a parent, unlike school teachers. Therefore, librarians do not have to necessarily act in the best interest of the child. It might sound cruel, but it protects librarians from violating intellectual freedom. If a five-year-old comes up to the circulation desk with The Joy of Sex, a (good) librarian will check it out to them. A school teacher would not be able to do this in good faith because of their in loco parentis responsibilities.

Because librarians cannot restrict access to materials (within reason), it is important to have a social networking policy that is amended to a library's Internet policy. (Click here for more information about social media policies.) With a strong policy behind them, librarians and library staff can defend themselves against challenges, and protect younger library users from harm.

Younger social media users don't really do anything different online than they do in real life. They talk to their school friends, perhaps make some new ones, and generally poke around. As the Pew Internet study found (a review of that resource is upcoming), teenagers don't use social networking (particularly Twitter) as much as people think.

Goss's article is an interesting perspective on social networking; younger teens and "tweens" are often neglected in Internet studies. They are an important user group to consider.