Underage Children and Social Networking

I think the idea behind the underage use of social media by children is a very important subject and one that is becoming more and more central all the time.  As the article mentioned, several stores and manufacturers are using social media like Facebook or twitter to communicate with cliental, excepts there cliental is under the age acceptable to use the media.  There are good reasons behind why the age limits have been set for social media because of the possibility of sexual predators online and the lack of understanding by younger children on what is alright to share with a stranger and what a stranger actually is.  As the research also showed, children 8 years and younger really have no interest in social media.  So from the study we are really focused on 9-12 year olds.  At this age, children should have a fairly decent concept of what a stranger is and what can be shared with someone you don't know.  Children of this age should not be left alone at anytime with the internet or social media, but I don't necessarily think that the answer is to not let them communicate through social media.  Todays social media is becoming the soda shop of the 50s, the telephone of the 70s, and the text message of the 2000s.  As a child gets older and grows out of the imaginary playing world that younger children use when interacting with friends they will turn to the current trend.  As mentioned by the Dean in the Grad luncheon last week, his middle school daughter communicates through Instagram - words are no longer even needed.  While this presents a scary future of what these are pictures of (or the loss of communication skills all together) we must accept that more and more companies will be using social media to connect, and they will be connecting with this age group.
I think the article pointed out good ideas in how to approach this in a safe way, like linking Facebook accounts to a parents account to the settings can be controlled.  Parents being a friend and always keeping up with the content that is shared and reviewed is also an important part.  One of the biggest parts of social media and younger children is active parent involvement, which is easy for some parents and apparently impossible for others.
The same problems with social media exist with the search engines, video games with interactive communities, and playing on the street unattended.  There is danger around every corner, it is just taking the time to learn what the danger is and develop a plan on how to handle the danger.  With children playing outside - a responsible older party should always be keeping an eye to make sure that no suspicious persons comes into the yard and to make sure that children do not stray too far from the yard.  Should the same ideas not apply to internet usage?
We cannot stop the world from using the world wide web or social media.  It is today and it is the future.  And the future is yet to exist or has not become popular.  Tomorrow there will be a new worry that must be addressed, and we will address it the same way we have for centuries now.  The information age has just made the problems more mainstream, which is not bad, but it has made parents more aware of the issues and so hopefully more parents will be proactive about the solutions.