As most of the world is constantly looking over their shoulders for NSA spies, most teens are saying YOLO to privacy and sharing basically everything. Facebook is struggling to keep up with the newer social media sites, such as Twitter and Instagram and as a last ditch effort to retain the adoration of the 13-17 age bracket a new privacy policy has been made. The policy allows users with registered ages of 13-17 to change their privacy settings to Public, that means anyone from anywhere in the world is able to see them. The pop up next to the drop down bar states:

“Tip: Sharing with Public means anyone (not just people you know) may see your post”

But do teenagers really understand what changing this simple setting would mean? The phenomenon of social media has made sharing private thoughts a norm. And through such created a people that do not realize once ideas are shared on the internet those thoughts do not just go away or stay in ones circle of friends, but can be accessed by anyone all around the world. This new policy change makes teenage posts in America able to be seen anywhere around the world. One racial slur can change the way those people and countries view America, noting that 70% of Facebook users are outside America. Narrowing the scope down to just Americans, bullies and sexual predators are now able to target teens over Facebook even easier. Not to mention the number of people under the actual age of 13 on the site about 7.5 million under 13 and about 5 million under the age of 10 can now be more easily targeted and harassed.

Of course this change will also allow teens, such as activists and those who are not constantly fighting with their peers, who have valuable ideas, to share them with the world. But as many know those who aim to cause harm to others vastly outnumber those whose objective it is to make the world an improved place. The release of the reigns of privacy on Facebook, compared to the vast sharing of information on other sites, is not in itself a bombshell. But the people that have access to this information that create the biggest threat. By opening those 13-17 year olds to the vast world of Facebook, a world that now longer consists of mostly peers, but 61% of users 35 or older. It is important to realize that everything captured on the internet can be accessed by a lot more people than you will ever grasp and to remember that before posting any content or changing your privacy settings to Public.

Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3645840

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/underage-facebook-members-75-million-users-age-13/story?id=13565619

http://socialmediatoday.com/kenburbary/276356/facebook-demographics-revisited-2011-statistics