Facebook users: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Facebook]] |
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{{afd-mergeto|Facebook|Facebook users|16 June 2011}} |
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As of April 2011, Facebook stated that it had 500 million active users around the world (about 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States), 50% of which logged on in any given day. On average, its users spent about 700 billion minutes per month on the site.<ref name="Press Room">{{cite web|title=Press Room|url=http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics|work=Facebook|accessdate=13 April 2011}}</ref> |
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Facebook membership was initially exclusive to college students when it was made public in 2004, but was eventually opened up to everyone in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kornblum|first=Janet|title=Facebook will soon be available to everyone|url=http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-09-11-facebook-everyone_x.htm|work=USA Today|publisher=USAToday.com|accessdate=26 April 2011}}</ref> |
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==Mobile Usage== |
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Of the 500 million Facebook users, about 250 million users accessed the site through Facebook Mobile and, also according to the Facebook site, those users are nearly twice as active than non-mobile users.<ref name="Press Room"/> |
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== User Security == |
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Facebook privacy and information security has been a high point of a conflict for the social networking site. (See: [[Criticism of Facebook]]) |
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== High School Users == |
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Following the February 27, 2006, integration of the high school and college levels, some college users began creating groups critical of the decision.<ref name=crimson2>{{cite news|first=Jillian M.|last=Bunting|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=511758|title=New Facebook Feature Could Out Students|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|date=March 2, 2006}}</ref> Users from the two branches could fully interact only if they were friends and some separation did remain. The site also released the Limited Profile privacy settings and advised students on how to hide pictures and other features from others. However, some college users felt that the site's former exclusivity had been key to their experience.<ref name=barometer>{{cite news|author=Staff editorial|url=http://barometer.orst.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/03/01/440552b337028?in_archive=1|title=Yeas & Nays|publisher=The Daily Barometer ([[Oregon State University]])|date=March 1, 2006|accessdate=April 3, 2006}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> Some expressed concerns about the ability of unknown persons to create accounts on the high school version (since university addresses are not required) and use them to access the college version; by default, strangers can message and view users' friends through a simple global search. Some made predictions that the site would soon face issues with [[Spam (electronic)|spammers]], stalkers, or worse, and worried this would result in controversies similar to the [[MySpace#Child safety|bad publicity seen by MySpace]].<ref name=crimson3>{{cite news|first=Adam P.|last=Schneider|url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=511127|title=How Much About You Is Out There?|publisher=The Harvard Crimson|date=February 8, 2006}}</ref> |
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Adding to the controversy around opening Facebook to younger students, four high school students at Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute in [[Toronto]], Ontario were arrested in a Facebook-related protest on March 23, 2007. Earlier that week, five students had been suspended for posting criticisms about a vice-principal of their school. About a dozen friends of the suspendees had decided to protest in front of the school, but that handful soon grew to over 100 students protesting for [[Freedom of speech|free speech]]. Local law enforcement authorities were called, and a scuffle ensued, resulting in the arrest of four students.<ref>{{cite news|title=Toronto high school students scuffle with police|publisher=[[The Globe and Mail]] (registration required for full text)|date=March 23, 2007|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070323.wTOprotest0323/BNStory/National/home |accessdate=June 19, 2007}}</ref> Users under eighteen years old have been banned from Facebook for not being in a high school group. This discourages homeschoolers from using Facebook.<ref>[http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=27766153276&topic=5850 Facebook Group (13 Reasons your Facebook account will be disabled)]</ref> Facebook does not actively enforce the age limit, resulting in children under the age of 13 using it.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7325019.stm BBC NEWS: Children flock to social networks]</ref> This has raised concerns in regard to the safety of children.<ref>[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11165576/ MSN.com], MySpace, Facebook attract online predators – Nightly News with Brian Williams- msnbc.com. Retrieved 2009-10-14-09.</ref> |
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== Minors == |
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As of April 2011, the minimum age for Facebook users was 13 years. Facebook states explicitly: |
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:"If you are under age 13, please do not attempt to register for Facebook or provide any personal information about yourself to us. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from a child under age 13, please contact us through this help page."<ref name="Facebook Privacy Policy">{{cite web|title=Facebook Privacy Policy|url=http://www.facebook.com/policy.php|work=Privacy Policy|publisher=Facebook|accessdate=26 April 2011}}</ref> |
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However, there is no real method to prevent those younger than 13 from entering a different birth date and reports show that nearly half of all American 12-year-olds possess Facebook accounts.<ref>{{cite web|last=WCPO Staff|title=Facebook removes 20,000 users per day who are under 13|url=http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/science_tech/facebook-removes-20000-users-per-day-who-are-under-13-wcpo1301052769468|work=ABC Action News|publisher=Scripps Media|accessdate=26 April 2011}}</ref> Efforts began in early 2011 to delete and ban the profiles of those under 13. It was estimated that 20,000 profiles were deleted each day.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Catharine|title=Facebook Removes 20,000 Underage Users Each Day|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/23/facebook-underage-users_n_839437.html|publisher=Huffington Post|accessdate=29 March 2011}}</ref> |
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One major controversy with Facebook is its source of revenue from the sale of user information to third-party applications which began in January 2011. In February 2011, talks driven largely by two congressmen (Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas)) began in an effort to protect those under 18 from having their addresses and phone numbers shared with these third-parties. Facebook began to look into increasing visibility in terms of which pieces of information was being released to certain third-party applications.<ref>{{cite news|last=Puzzanghera|first=Jim|title=Facebook might prevent applications from asking minors for contact information|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/02/facebook-privacy-teens-minors-applications-phone-number-letter-markey-barton.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef014e866708ef970d|publisher=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=29 March 2011}}</ref> However, Facebook Privacy Policy warns: |
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:"When you connect with an application or website it will have access to General Information about you. The term General Information includes your and your friends’ names, profile pictures, gender, user IDs, connections, and any content shared using the Everyone privacy setting. We may also make information about the location of your computer or access device and your age available to applications and websites in order to help them implement appropriate security measures and control the distribution of age-appropriate content. If the application or website wants to access any other data, it will have to ask for your permission."<ref name="Facebook Privacy Policy"/> |
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In order to protect minors older than 13 years of age, another section of the Facebook Privacy Policy also states: |
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:"We reserve the right to add special protections for minors (such as to provide them with an age-appropriate experience) and place restrictions on the ability of adults to share and connect with minors, recognizing this may provide minors a more limited experience on Facebook." <ref name="Facebook Privacy Policy"/> |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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[[Category:Facebook]] |
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Latest revision as of 19:07, 2 August 2011
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