By Sarah Moomaw, News Staff
We all tell white lies.
Whether it’s to get out of something we don’t want to do or cover up something we did, it has become part of human nature.
One of the first – and easily claimed as most successful – social media sites has set out to prevent this lying in its early stages.
Facebook said on Monday that it is looking into ways to allow the under-13 crowd onto its site without having to lie about their birthday.
I saw this on Twitter and was instantly appalled. For what purpose would anyone under 13 need a Facebook account?
My Facebook friends, and most likely yours, too, range from the best of the best to the one time we chatted for way too long to those who you just always want to keep tabs on for one weird reason or another.
I really don’t need the soon-to-be-five-and-eight-year-olds across the street from my parents mixed into that crowd. Watching them send links from Crayola, Cartoon Network and Nick Jr. back and forth is sure to further clog my newsfeed.
I realize I wouldn’t have to accept their friend requests, but adding a younger generation seems to do more harm than good. If it didn’t, the age limitation wouldn’t exist (which is government-set to protect what information can be collected by corporations).
I already watched the kids I babysat for in high school grow up via Facebook. First I was friends with their parents; shortly after, the older kids, and now the younger ones, meet the minimum age requirement.
They are athletic superstars, creative artists and volunteering do-gooders, which granted, I’ve enjoyed seeing, but only because I made them mac and cheese every Thursday night for four years.
Once upon a time, my little brother lied his way onto Facebook to torment me. Our parents made him delete it, but at some point he was right back on it with a birthday and graduation year that didn’t match reality.
Ten years ago the Internet seemed like a black hole where everyone lied about everything and there was little proof to whom you were actually instant messaging with was your best friend and not a 46-year-old man wanting to kidnap you.
I doubt the Internet has actually become safer since I was 12 – think cyberbullying and Craigslist killers – but that the population is more comfortable with its presence in our everyday lives.
As college students, we get our news – personal or international – from Facebook and Twitter. We share short stories, favorite photos, animated GIFs and YouTube videos on blogs and in email threads. We keep tabs on friends and gloat about current activities through smartphone apps that interlink with social media.
The thought that an 8- or 11-year-old could have the interest in doing any of that leaves me scratching my head, and I don’t see the benefit of Facebook adding that age range to its platform.
Facebook executives have said if they found a way to allow younger generations onto the site, the privacy settings would be of the utmost security. But if one person can hit the wrong key and send the stock market plummeting, then someone can hit the wrong key and put the single-digit generation in everyone’s hands.
Kids today are already 18 steps ahead of where my little brother was when he first lied about his birthday and probably 43 steps ahead of me at the same age.
They watch TV younger, have cell phones, personal laptops and iPads sooner, and school their parents and babysitters in all things technological.
What happened to giant coloring books, hours spent playing with the next door neighbors and collecting bottle caps and baseball cards?
Apparently that’s all been replaced with the urge to “Like,” comment and poke via a keyboard, mouse and screen instead of face-to-face.
We live in a world of age limitations and the Internet should be no different. Seniority should be at play. We are older than the Internet, so can’t we keep it – or a piece of it – for ourselves?
Maybe these white lies should be redubbed ‘blue’ lies.
