Survey: The majority thinks 13 years old is too young for Facebook

It's long been a topic for debate: How young is too young for social media and, by extension, social games? SodaHead, the self-proclaimed largest opinion-based web community, sought to get the bottom of the argument. It asked over 2,000 voters how old they think Facebook users should be when they first sign up for the social network, and the results are both refreshing and scary.

While 34 percent of voters think that 13 years old--the current minimum age for a Facebook account--is appropriate, a whopping 48 percent of voters think that first-time users should be older. A hefty 29 percent of voters think that Facebook newbies should be at least 14 years old, and 19 percent think that first-timers should be at least 18 before dipping their feet in.

What's disconcerting, however, is that 5 percent seem to think that 7 to 9-year-olds would be just fine on Facebook. Even more unsettling than that fact is that, according to a survey conducted by the University of Illinois, a whopping 55 percent of preteens have Facebook accounts, while 32 percent of 11-year-olds and 19 percent of 10-year-olds are on the network.

This writer isn't even a parent and those numbers are unnerving. At the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon: We did just fine without Facebook when we were preteens, so why would it be necessary now? Kids need to learn actual social interaction, mano-a-mano, in those formative years before navigating the rough-and-tumble world of social media. And when it comes to social games, does this doomsday scenario ring a bell?

Do you think that 13 is too young for Facebook? What age do you think is appropriate for social media, and by extension social games? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.