To Facebook or Not to Facebook?

My initial thoughts on reading the article were very against Mark Zuckerberg.  The fact that he wants 12 year old children on Facebook, where those children who know nothing about a positive or negative internet footprint, what information to share and not share, and the sometimes lasting results of posting very bad things, I dislike.  These children are exposing themselves too early and are being exposed too early to internet trends and influence.  It is like I am seeing a trickle down effect where fashions and behavior is working its way into younger generations.  Teenagers were having sex, now it is pre-teens having sex, and eventually 8 year olds will be having sex when they're too physically immature to even ejaculate.

In addition, M. Zuckerberg is pushing for his agenda, against protecting 12 year old children and under, with triple the amount of lobbying that Facebook already takes part in.  He clearly has plenty of money to spend so much on lobbyists, yet he wants more money from the 7.5 million Facebook users that are 12 and under.  Zuckerberg even has a political committee composed of ex-Bush and Obama officials to push against constricting Facebook age requirement.


What's funny, is some teenagers, 15 and older, don't even understand what's happening when they post pictures of themselves drunk and high at a party of Facebook.  Not only Facebook, but back when Myspace was the crave, I remember seeing pictures kids, my age, this was in 9th grade, age 14-15, drunk at parties.  And posting songs like, "I Like to Fu**."  These kids don't understand what they are doing and now, business or employers are looking people up on Facebook and Myspace and other social sites who have applied for a job at their business.  How awful would it be to be denied a job due to a photo on Facebook?  Also, when college students from Columbia don't even know that their "private" information can still be seen publicly, how can we expect 12 year olds to understand Facebook and web-sharing?

I agree, that in the end, we cannot prevent young children from doing these things.  So, we are better off teaching them so that when they do get on Facebook or whatever, they are educated in what they are doing.