Because Facebook’s got as much tact as a cactus, they’ve decided to appeal to teens by creating a “Youth Portal” which is just as cringe-worthy as that sounds. This portal will include tools and tips on how to use Facebook’s features, such as pages, groups, events, and other portals.
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“Youth Portal” also includes a section on warnings and safety tips on how to use the Internet and avoid online dangers. Because don’t talk to strangers is not as applicable as it used to be a couple of years ago.
According to The Verge, Facebook’s been trying really hard to gain back teen users who’ve been uninterested on the platform for years, but we doubt that a set of rules with big fonts and drawings are going to do much of a difference. These guidelines give corny yet helpful advice that could be applied to all sorts of viewers, such as suggesting that you change your password every couple of years, or that you only accept friend requests from people you know.
The problem here is the way in which Facebook phrases these guidelines, saying things such as “change your locks every so often,” “don’t invite strangers into your room,” and “before you post publicly, pause and ask yourself, ‘Would I feel comfortable reading this out loud to my parents and grandparents?'”
All of this is true, but this is the sort of spiel that teens expect in schools and at home. The thing they’d want the least is to get this from the Internet too.
