Facebook Kicks 20,000 Potential Fans Off Every Day
If kids 13 and under are a part of your fanbase then putting your efforts into Facebook to find them isn't going to net the desired results. Mozelle Thompson, the site's chief privacy adviser, told Australia's Federal Parliament this week that "Facebook removes 20,000 people a day, people who are underage." But where do 10-13 year olds find new music?
MySpace and YouTube are the pre-teen music sites of choice in large part because they are a lot easier to get around without having to register and sign in. To ignore either site is to ignore younger fans.
Here's Facebook's age policy:
"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…."
The internet law around all ages can be frustrating… I work for Supernova.com, a music community that serves bands and fans, and we have to get parental permission for all users under 13 to join. However, the majority of parents are happy to give their permission… we even run live music events and often have families coming out together. Ideally, children and parents can approach social media together with an informed and responsible attitude.
10-13 year olds? I thought this was a serious article at first.
Trust me, kids under the age of 13 are really good at getting around these things…
Also, these kids spend on average about 7 hours + a day interacting with media (I’ll see if I can find the exact study – but it was put out recently over the past few days, think it was a US study) so I’m sure they’ll find a way to find more things/artists to spend money on!
I had an 11 year old show me how to hack through the “Facebook Block” on his schools wi-fi with an Ipod yesterday. I don’t think he or his friends have much trouble with getting around Facebook..