Honestly, the law prohibiting users under the age of 13 to join Facebook seems almost silly now. I understand that this falls under the Child Online Protection Act, but unless this law is better enforced, there's really not much point in having it anymore. It doesn't seem to be a deterrent to youth at all; they would rather up their status among their peers by joining the Facebook world than worry about legalese they may not even understand. Lying and disobeying the law in the name of popularity never was and never will be a good thing (like peer pressure to use drugs, join a gang, etc.).
Creating a profile for a fictional character doesn't bother me as much, as long as it's clearly stated that the character is indeed fictional. I can see something like this being an entertaining creative pastime for aspiring writers, for example. As long as the profiles are not set up with the intention to deceive and the accounts are identified as belonging to real people, I am fine with this.
I would personally like Facebook to better verify the ages of people who set up profiles, but unless there's considerable government enforcement, I doubt this will happen. I feel at this point, there are just too many underage users for people to think it worth deleting their accounts. These kids have already joined and created profiles, so why take it away now - especially when they'll be 'legal' Facebook users in a matter of a couple years anyway?
Amber-- I like the idea of requiring FB to better verify the ages of people set up profiles. I just wonder HOW they would do that? One suggestion that has been made is to require people to supply a credit card # or Social Security #. But, of course, that gives FB even MORE of our personal information. It is a conundrum...
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