What is an appropriate age for someone to begin using a social networking site?

[Sam C]

I think my sister is being grossly negligent by letting her 10-yr old daughter use Facebook. I'm not the parent, but I think this is very ill-conceived.

[Mrs. AMA]

i started using myspace when i was 11 or 12. As long as she is inviting someone off of face book to the house then i wouldn't see a problem.

[monica k]

I think the person should be mature enough, and knows what to post on their profile, and who to talk to. Immature kids don't know that they shouldn't talk to creepy guys on facebook/myspace or any other social networking site. Unless that 10 year old knows all about safety and what and what not to do on facebook, she's fine. I think her mom should keep a close eye on her just to see if she's being safe.

[Pork]

40. Those things are lame.

[Rebecca]

Yeah, 10 is too young in my opinion. I would say 13 is the youngest. But I view facebook as a way for people who don't see each other to keep in touch (ie. people who graduated together, extended family, etc). So I don't think anyone under 17 needs to have a facebook personally, unless they have gone to different schools.

[shanbah]

I don't think it is a good idea either, and besides, the age requirement for Facebook is 13 and Myspace is 14.

[Blueberry Head]

I think it depends on how they use it

Big difference between if it's to contact friends/family far away with supervision, restrictions etc and if it's all over the place and they post pics/info, talk to strangers and parents have no clue

[IndyGrl88]

id say wait until high school. there are too many freaks, stalkers, and pedophiles out there. and young kids arent mature enough to figure out if someone if tricking them online.

[Sophie]

I think 10 is a little young, especially if the mother isn't monitoring her 90% of the time (you never said whether or not she checks the profile). Honestly, I dont see why a 10yr old would be interested in social networking. My brother is 9 and uses the computer for games and thats it, he doesn't care about facebook, myspace and all that junk !

I think the appropriate age, would be around 16 or 17, at least then they know a little something about internet safety.

[Irenie Leigh]

It depends, if a 10-12 year old is only using it to talk to people they know in real life, their profile is private, and a parent has access to the account- I don't really think it's "negligent".

However, if a 10-12 year old has unlimited internet access (such as having their own computer in their room) that their parents don't monitor at all- then I see it as a problem.

My sister knows people who caught their 10 year old using their house phone, to call a 15 year old boy she met online. Children need to be monitored on the internet, but I think if the parents handle it correctly- then it's okay for them to use the computer.