Google’s new social networking service, Google Plus, has been growing really popular these days despite it not being available to users without an invitation.
As many might have noticed, Google+ has quite a lot of similarities with Facebook, the only impressive feature of it being the Circles that are basically the core of all Google+.
So, what else is different from Facebook? Apparently, trying to sign up to Google+ as a minor has an unexpected result:
This feature is not available for your accountYou must be over a certain age to use this feature.
This is very interesting. It reminds me of the recent trouble Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) had on the G8 summit related to users under 13 years that use Facebook. This is actually a huge difference from Facebook since Zuckerberg, speaking in front of the world leaders has asked the officials to “refrain from excessive internet regulation”. Zuckerberg said regulation would not work and that the leaders should instead invest in “high-speed technology”. Google’s measure is pretty drastic. Thirteen years is one thing, eighteen is another.
Of course, using another account with a different birthday is possible, and Google Plus is still not open to everybody so things might change until then, but Google’s approach on this matter is very interesting, especially since social networking websites are very popular among teenagers.
What is Google trying to do? Why not allow minors to use it? I would love to know what you guys think, so leave a comment below.
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Great first post Davide! Keep up the good work =)
It is also interesting to note that Google’s TOS for all of their services says (I’m paraphrasing) “You may not use Google’s products, software, services and web sites and may not accept the Terms if you are not of legal age to form a binding contract with Google.” Perhaps Google just wanted to be consistent with their TOS? After all, you must have a Google account inorder to use Google+
Also, Facebook has the option of total privacy (although rather annoying and tricky to set) while Google+ accounts can’t be set completely private (I believe, correct me if I’m wrong). Perhaps Google wants to protect the information of minors.
The last thing I want to mention is that (at least in America) people must be at least 18 or older in order to form a binding contract. That is, if users under 18 were allowed, they wouldn’t technically have to follow the “rules”. Same goes for Facebook.
I think the thing with the contract is available everywhere.
I noticed that I must be over 18 to send them feedback too, but what is interesting is that they allow me to send feedback despite the warning at the top.
Okay, that makes sense.
Hmmm… that is rather interesting
I was looking around on the interwebs and found this Google Help answer (by an employee):
“We want to make sure that Google+ provides the best experience to users under 18 who may be eligible to use our product before we open it up to them.”
https://www.google.com/support/forum/p/gmail/thread?tid=05c38338cd852b46&hl=en
Hey, good find!
That is a rather interesting answer from Google. It is quite confusing as well. If I understand correctly, they are trying to say that they want minors with invites to have a good user experience with Google+ before they are allowed to use Google+. First off, that doesn’t make much sense. Secondly, aren’t they contradicting themselves by saying that some “users under 18″ may be eligible? Does that not ignore the question that was asked by the user? Come on Google. Get it straight.
No, what it says is that they want to make sure that users under 18 who are eligible to use the service (i.e. those who have invites) to be provided with the best possible user experience and as a result, they are waiting. Basically, they’re concerned that because it’s not a final release, a bug may result in information leakage which is a huge deal if minors are involved. That’s also why minors should not make an account where they lie about their age just to use the service.
Ah, thank you for clarifying! That’s a great explanation.
Great clarification. It’s hard to remember this is in deep beta with all the buzz it is getting (sorry, no pun intended). G+ is also not available for Google Apps accounts, kind of the same reasoning — you don’t want someone to adopt this as an enterprise solution before it is well tested. Even then there will still be problems With the unanticipated problems with accounts being closed providing a relevant cautionary tale, I appreciate big G waiting until the kinks are ironed out, even though my daughter was disappointed. The other issue is with circles, minor youth can close out parents into a circle and may engage in problem behaviors. I’ll be interested to see how G rolls out service to minors, but I have no doubt it will be coming.
Regarding Google+ not being available for Google Apps accounts, I believe that this is because Google doesn’t want businesses to have “people” accounts on Google+. Period. Both Mashable and Ford made Google+ accounts, and they were suspended by Google (after Mashable became the number 4 most popular account on Google+). Businesses that had accounts that were suspended from Google+ were left with a message that included “Please remember that we are currently limiting profiles to real people and will be launching a profile for businesses and other entities later this year.” It seems that Google is going to release a business solution for Google+ in the future.
I agree, it is very admirable of Google to respect the privacy of minors (unlike FB =P ).
I don’t see it as Google+’s fault that minors may engage in problematic behaviors in their circles. Kids are going to do what kids are going to do… whether there is a Google+ or not.
Curious to know, how do online teaching-learning or tutoring websites tackle the Minor issue? If an independent student wants to enroll for some online class (and the website also has some social networking aspect), is he / she allowed to register and take class? Or parental email is required?
Thanks.
-Shravan
Because of certain laws that are in place, minors can’t enter a binding contract (that tutoring websites have) without parental consent. I would thus guess that, if certain tutoring websites do in fact allow minors (many don’t), that they require parental consent. Of course, these kinds of things are difficult to regulate. As an example, there are many users of Facebook that are under the age of 10. This is in violation of the TOS, but they still sign up and give fake info. It is important to take into account, however, that Facebook is a free service, while any good tutoring website requires payment. Usually by credit card. This largely eliminates any fraudulent users.
I am by no means an expert on the subject.
I hope that answered your question! =)
I feel like Google+ would see a lot more use if they opened it up to minors. I had a beta tester invitation, but I was told I was not allowed to join. I’m seventeen and if I mess up, get drunk and post a picture that ruins my career, I’m not going to sue Google just because I’m a minor and I can. Granted, a lot of people would, but it was very condescending to be nearly eighteen and told I cannot have access to a social network.
Interesting notes, when signing up for a bank account where you give them an immense amount of personal information and sign up for a very strict and important contract, a seventeen year old can do it without any parental knowledge or permission at all. Google is more paranoid than Citizen’s Bank?
I agree. A large percentage of social network users are minors, so Google has a much smaller target user base than social networks like Facebook.
As for suing Google for things like that, the terms of service for Google accounts ( https://accounts.google.com/TOS?loc=US&hl=en ) pretty much prevents Google from being held liable for anything. When minors agree to a TOS, they are required to have the consent of their guardian. Thus, Google should follow the example that the rest of the internet has set and allow anyone 13+ to join.
Well… banks are businesses, and they require a large customer base to operate profitably. Google+ is free, and so far Google isn’t making money off of users. They have less motivation to go through the bother of dealing with minors. But you’re right, it is a little bit absurd what minors can and can’t do. Of course, both of these examples are unrelated to gov’t legal mumbo jumbo and have more to do with what the guy in charge of the company wants. They can legally exclude age groups from their customer/user base if they so choose to.