Using Facebook with teen volunteers or teen audience: address Facebook's 13+ age limit or not?

Some context: Teens (and tweens) are avid users of Facebook. A likely place for libraries to connect with teens is on Facebook. We know that our "teen" initiatives, collections and activities frequently attract younger patrons. Facebook's age policy says users must be 13 or older.

Thus, my question: If a library plans to use Facebook to connect with teens -- for example, using a Facebook group for teen volunteers, or a Facebook page directed at teen users -- and we know that targeting teens often attracts tweens, should the library somehow address Facebook's age policy? If so, how?

Possible points and situations to consider:

• A FB group is a great place to share info with select teens (like a Teen Council). Given that these teens may be in an official library role (registered volunteers or members of a library program such as Teen Council) do we/should we have any responsibility when the younger members join the FB group?

• If we actively target teens on FB, is it incumbent upon us to point out FB's age limit (and if so, where/how?) or expect patrons to inform themselves?

• As partners in helping guardians find the info they need to make decisions for their families, do we provide info about the FB age limit?

• Does anyone have a helpful policy (or established practice) along these lines?

Debrarian

• public-libraries
• youth-services
• social-media

Comments

• Debrarian: Too much emphasis on opinion? I'm aiming for policy and concrete suggestions, plus the rationale that supports them.
• jdscott50: The question comes out a little wonky. Maybe, What's the best way to use Facebook with Tweens? What would be some of the issues with age limits?
• Debrarian: I was thinking that was too big a question (and if we are targeting anyone intentionally, I'd want to aim for teens rather than tweens because of FB's age policy). But lemme ponder. Thanks for the feedback!
• jdscott50: You're right, that's too big. Maybe "what's the best way to address age limits?"
• Debrarian: Made some edits to clarify and narrow the focus of the question.
• Joe: As one of the few people out there who don't actually use facebook -- I thought that it was possible to use facebook like a blog for distributing information, even if people don't log in. Has that changed?

Answer by KatieR

A FB group is a great place to share info with select teens (like a Teen Council). Do we create a FB group and only invite the teens who are old enough to join it, even if we have some Teen Council members who are too young? Do we ignore it when the younger members join the FB group anyway?

Even if a person is part of your group, you can't see their profile unless they have low privacy settings. Do you plan on going through and checking every single member's profile or, if you can't see their age, check their account in your ILS?

Do we need to point it out at all?

This is very similar to "Do we check out R rated movies to those under 17?". Some libraries go to great lengths to make sure that those under 17 can't get R rated movies and those under 13 can't get PG-13 movies. Others write it into their card policy that the parent is responsible for what their child gets from the library and they won't act in loco parentis.

Comments

• Debrarian: I know the ages of my Teen Council members (for example) because they fill out an application to be TC members. And that makes them official volunteers for whom we have assumed some responsibility -- which to my mind is different from making materials (like R movies) available to the general public and leaving it up to them to decide about checking them out. Do you have suggestions about how to handle FB's age policy (or not handle it) specifically when we use FB with teens or actively target teens on FB?
• KatieR: Is your goal to advertise Teen Council or simply have a way to communicate with existing members? If it is to only communicate, I would say the best thing to do in the situation is to create a private facebook group and then invite those who you accept into your Teen Council. It is really up to Facebook & parents to control who is on the site. If you accept younger kids into your Teen Council AND they are on Facebook, then allow them into their group because at some point the parent or Facebook allowed the kid on the site.
• Debrarian: I'm more interested in a general answer to the policy question. But in the case of this eg., I have a TC, we have a FB group for communication, the teens who set it up of course invited all TC members, including some who are officially too young to be on FB. I myself just let the TC know about it and let the teens decide whether to join. I'd like to know if anyone has set up a teen FB group under official library auspices, and if so, did they feel obliged to mention the FB age limits or not. Since they're using an age-restricted medium as an official communication tool with a teen/tween group.