Buzz
Facebook debuts Messenger for children under 13, dubbed Messenger Kids, facilitating safe connections with parents and friends.
For instance, if parents want their child to chat with a schoolmate, both parents must be friends on Facebook, and their connection must be approved by both.
Facebook launches new version of Messenger for children under 13 years old
The issue here is that Facebook aims to provide children with a messaging app without the need for a phone number, and children won't receive messages from people they don't know.
Of course, Facebook's release of Messenger for children under 13 is an opportunity for the social network to reach its youngest users, to compete with potential rivals. Facebook seems to be losing users in the teenage age group as they turn to using Snapchat and Instagram more. However, luckily Facebook owns Instagram, which is also a reason for Facebook to develop Messenger Kids.
It's not clear yet if logging out of Messenger Kids is as difficult as logging out of Messenger on iPhone, Android, or not. Information about logging out of Messenger for Kids will be updated as soon as possible.
Imagine a 10-year-old using Messenger Kids and building a network of contacts on the service, eventually transitioning to using Messenger and possibly Facebook.
During the press conference introducing the new product, Facebook didn't focus much on the benefits of Messenger Kids. Instead, the company emphasized ensuring safety for Messenger Kids. In addition to parents needing to create an account and add new contacts, children can't delete any messages, and parents are notified whenever their child receives a message. (All reports are reviewed by humans, the company said.)
Hopefully, this will help parents monitor issues related to bullying or child abuse.
The company said they spent 6 months talking to hundreds of parents in groups to understand the concerns and online communication needs of children.
David Marcus, head of Facebook Messenger, said: 'It's challenging to control how children communicate with each other, their communication methods, the tools they use.' 'This is what we will address and fix.'
Facebook building products, apps specifically for children under 13 implies that the company will take responsibility for new issues. Ensuring parents use Facebook safely, not allowing strangers to contact or befriend their children.
Facebook launches Messenger version for children under 13
Here are a few things users need to know about the new app:
- Creating a Messenger Kids account is different from creating a Facebook account, according to Facebook. They only require a first and last name for a Messenger Kids account, and any other data collected from the account will be stored separately from other Facebook user data, whereas creating a Facebook account on a computer requires providing a lot of different information.
- Messenger Kids accounts do not automatically convert to Facebook accounts if the child is under 13 years old.
- Messenger Kids does not contain any advertisements.
- Parents do not need to download any separate apps. They can connect with Messenger Kids users through their existing Messenger app.
- There is no user database to search within Messenger Kids. Parents can only view Messenger Kids accounts connected with friends on their Facebook.
Messenger Kids is currently only available for iOS devices in the US. The company said the app version for Android and Kindle will launch next year.
In today's report, Microsoft announced their latest operating system, the ability of Windows 10 to soon surpass Windows 7 to become the leading, most popular operating system today. For Windows users, this is very useful information to decide whether to upgrade to Windows 10 or not.
