According to reports online, Facebook's ‘youth team’ is developing the Facebook ‘Messenger Kids’ App.
Facebook has started developing a messenger app specifically targeted at children aged 13 or under.
At present, the minimum age for a person to open his/her Facebook account is 13 years.
To make the Kids' Facebook Messenger app safe for children, the child-specific messaging app will be controlled by a parental Facebook account. Other safety features include: all contacts must be approved by the parental account, and the parental account has the power to delete messages and contacts deemed inappropriate.
By the look of it, the Facebook messenger apps for kids is trying to do two things at the same time:
1) Increase Facebook adoption rate among young people, by bringing them to the platform at an even younger age.
&2) Bring an App bundled up with parental control and monitoring features to get away with any parental concerns.
But, the Facebook App for children does not address some obvious questions:
Why will any parent want to introduce online social media to his/her child before 13 years of age?
and
How does the new app address the concerns of parents who already see the usual Facebook platform somewhat 'unsafe'?
and
What measures Facebook or any other social media network has taken to discourage children below the minimum age open the usual Facebook account?
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