I think the real conversation should be about data collection and what kind of profiles they are / aren't building. I don't think kids should be trained from age 6 onwards to think the privacy invasions being foisted on us by our current social media companies are ok. I don't mind if Facebook is using it as a "hook them early" kind of product since there's some reciprocal value, but they shouldn't be allowed to collect any data or build any profiles on kids.

> Facebook believes its app complies with COPPA.

Believes? Lol.

I'm also not really sure what everyone thinks Facebook should do about online bullying. That's not a Facebook problem. It's a society problem. If Facebook starts to monitor and analyze every interaction teens will simply find another platform because they don't want their privacy violated like that. I don't blame them.

I’m a parent of a 9 year old and 7 year old. My 9 yo has Messenger Kids. I agree it’s a pretty well designed app. But it’s just messaging (and some games). It’s like the telephone. I don’t mind that. But IG and FB are different things entirely. My concern isn’t that my kid can chat with his friends. It’s in the compare and despair, the constant posting of fake versions of your perfect life to make others feel jealous, and the algorithmic promotion of outrage (sorry, I mean high engagement) content.

Seems like a pretty shit use of a kids precious time being a kid.

When I was a kid, I spent most of my time with my grandparents and I was either in their garden or outside in the street with other kids.

I am honestly tired of the "think about the children" motto, or the selling of things in the name of protecting children (which it really does not do and solves nothing, or "solves" a non-issue).

Personally I would rather have the friend over and do the homework together that way instead of using a messaging app. I am old school like that. :)

And the way to fix that is to give in to said pressure, which are just network effects, until everybody and all their kids are on FB or one of their platforms?

> I'd rather it was done in a safe way than forcing everyone onto some shadier platform

I wonder how most of us here managed to grow up for decades on a "not safe for children" web before we had companies like Facebook "tackle" a problem they created themselves?

As hyperbolic as that might sound, this is a discussion that needs to be had properly and doesn't just stop at the emotional appeal of "Think about the children!" but also involves what role Social Media is actually supposed to hold in society and if children should have access to it at all.

Yes, that sounds radical, but we are also living in times that present a radical shift to how societies used to function, maybe radical shifts need radical solutions.

The solution is to balance your kid being ostracized while also educating them on how to be safe online. That can only come from exposure. Unless you seriously expect other kids and teenagers to not latch onto their lack of social media/phone/anything trendy and turn it into a bullying vector?

> ...

Every time a "think of the children" argument comes up, the default opinion of government is to usher in sweeping, authoritarian changes to the whole internet, e.g. ID cards required, criminalising misinformation, etc...

Messenger Kids is literally a free market solution to give parents another choice and avoid authoritarian overreach in the process. The standard NSFW web is still available for those parents who trust their kids are able to handle it. And others can totally pull their kid off if that's also preferred.

None of these options are perfect, but it's important there is the space to choose. And at least with Messenger Kids you're giving the kid balanced privacy from their parents and safety from strangers.

My kids, for instance, went around eight months where Covid restrictions meant that indoor gatherings with other children were verboten. Even playgrounds were closed to them for some time.

This is debatable. It could actually be worse, but I am not too well-informed on this. Of course socialization is good, and one would think that it is better to have it digitally than to not have it at all; I would think so, too, but this may not be true, or at least not in a longer-term. I think we should allow kids to be kids and do the socializing in real life, ideally without masks so they could learn to pick up emotional cues from facial expressions and so forth. This plays a pretty important role in the children's development. I wonder what kind of effects those restrictions have had on "some" of these children. For what it is worth, I am not speaking out against the restrictions, but its effects on both children and adults make me curious.

They play things similar to pictionary, have video chats where they can digitally dress up in fun outfits, and so on.

Why? If they have negatively affected child development then that's a problem that was never considered by the powers at be.