To sign up for an account on Facebook you must be at least thirteen years of age. That obviously hasn’t been a real deterrent for kids under that age from faking out Facebook or talking their parents into allowing them to do so or even into doing it for them. According to a November 2011 survey of over a thousand parents, the results were that many children under the age of thirteen have Facebook accounts regardless of the minimum age requirement. Since teenagers make up nearly twenty percent of Facebook users, it really isn’t likely that Facebook is going to do anything to lose that large a group of users. Interestingly, a twelve year old (under the age requirement) is currently suing her school for interfering with her privacy rights on Facebook.

According to opinion-based Web community, SodaHead.com, the answer varied when users were asked what the minimum age should be for someone to have their own page on Facebook. Results from the poll taken by SodaHead.com are that nearly half or forty-eight percent of the users asked think the minimum age should be thirteen-years-old or older. Thirty-four percent agree with Facebook and believe thirteen is a good and appropriate age and twenty-nine percent believe users should be between the ages of fourteen and seventeen to be able to officially join Facebook. Nineteen percent of those polled think the minimum age for Facebook users should be at least eighteen years or older.

Not surprisingly, seventy-five percent of people thirteen to seventeen years old that were asked agreed with the minimum age Facebook currently requires of thirteen. Interestingly, one-third of parents polled think the minimum age for kids to sign-up should be eighteen years or older.