Boston, MA 10/21/2013 (wallstreetpr) – In an attempt to capture more of the younger demographic being lured away by its competitors, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has decided to change its policy that governs how its teenage users can share their information with the public.
As Facebook became more popular globally, the user base has become dominated by adults and corporate entities seeking to maximize on the marketing opportunity, and the changing landscape has become a turnoff for the younger users who had actually helped to build the site into the icon it is today.
Effective immediately, users in the 13-17 age group will be able to share selected posts with the general public, in essence making them accessible to strangers and marketers. The relaxed policy will encompass information like comments on the user’s Facebook page, status updates that are posted and pictures that are uploaded. The changes are not expected to pose any security risks because other stricter settings still help to ensure that privacy is protected; a new user who is underage can only share information with ‘friends’ by default and if the setting is to be changed, there are multiple prompts explaining how the information will be viewed and used by others.
Facebook hopes that the new policy will help to make their social networking site more attractive to teens especially after a Pew study conducted recently showed that the increased presence of adults and adult drama had led to waning interest among younger users. Teenagers still think having a Facebook account is still important in today’s culture but Facebook knows that in order for them to generate more income from advertising, the teens need to visit the site more actively. There is no denying that this user group is critical to the continued success of Facebook and the measure was especially necessary because rival sites like Tumblr and Twitter do not have any kind of restrictions against teenage users making public posts.
