Marketer Beware: 7.5 Million Facebook Users Are Kids

Marketing to children has always been risky terrain that should be navigated only with the utmost of care–or not at all.

Turns unsuccessful, however, that many companies are actively selling to children without even realizing it. Specifically, the companies doubtful are the ones that use Facebook to connect with customers and elevat their products and services. According to a recent report, a shockingly multitude of the Facebook users they'Ra likely reaching are actually kids.

Facebook's price of service require that users be at least 13 years archaic to use the land site. As a rear, however, I know from experience that kids routinely lie about their age then as to take part; after all, too that explicit requirement, there's atomic number 102 boost verification knotty, and nary kid wants to be left out.

5 Million Users Aged 10 and Under

What I didn't earn until this week, though, is just how many of Facebook's users are actually kids. Non only did roughly 20 1000000 minors actively use Facebook in the past twelvemonth, according to a Consumer Reports "State of the Net" survey released Tuesday, but a full 7.5 million of them were younger than 13.

Ready to be symmetrical more shocked? More than 5 one thousand thousand Facebook users were 10 and younger.

"Contempt Facebook's years requirements, many kids are using the site who shouldn't be," said Jeff Fox, technology editor in chief for Consumer Reports, in a squeeze unfreeze announcing the review's results. "What's even more worrying was the finding from our survey that indicated that a absolute majority of parents of kids 10 and subordinate seemed largely indifferent by their children's use of the site."

Consumer Reports goes on to precaution about potential implications including malware, identity theft and bullying. Nearer monitoring and privacy controls, in turn, are a focus of its recommendations for parents.

Risky Business

It's definitely disturbing that parents are generally so lax about their kids' online activities–only 18 percent of the parents responding to Consumer Reports' survey had even "friended" their kids on the site, for example.

Every bit temperature reduction, however, are the potential difference ramifications for marketers World Health Organization use Facebook for promotional purposes. There are several risks associated with selling to children, even if it's entirely unintentional.

1. An Moral Gray Area

Though it's conducted every last around United States of America every day, the ethics of marketing to children are non clear, even when the products and services in interrogative sentence come out to Be age-appropriate. There's been goodly debate over the practice, and it continues today, spurring the creation of organizations like the Campaign for a Commercialized-Unoccupied Childhood.

2. The Corpulency Question

Marketers of food and beverages face particularly fierce examination these days in the waken of today's obesity epidemic. If that's what your accompany sells, you definitely get into't want to be part of the problem–even unwittingly–by promoting your products to kids on Facebook.

3. Inappropriate Messages

Whatever the product or service tortuous, commercial messages that may seem innocent enough to adults could nonmoving own disinclined consequences for children aside promoting violence, materialism, an obsession with body image or incongruous sex. Once again, this is all just about us in the media daily, just that doesn't mean it's OK — or that you should allow your brand to be associated with it.

4. Potential drop Legal Implications

Advertising to children is governed in almost countries by a mix of self-regulation and legislation — including the Children's Online Privacy Auspices Act (COPPA) in the United States — but you should know that there are some areas, including Sweden, where marketing to kids under 12 is illegal, for instance. Even if it's unintentional, do you want to place your company in a potentially tricky legal situation?

I've ne'er been a fan of Facebook, peculiarly for marketing purposes. Straightaway, notwithstandin, on that point's yet another reason to approach the web site with uttermost carefulness. While Facebook may tell marketers that its audience is aged 13 and up, we like a sho have it off that that's absolutely not true.

Even as the old adage goes, "On the Internet, nobelium one knows you're a dog," so today nary one at Facebook in reality knows if a user is a kid.

One can only hope Facebook will respond to this research with or s sort of age verification process. In the in the meantime, marketers had better beware.