Say hello to Generation F

Anissa S. Febrina ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 04/13/2009 1:55 PM  |  Sci-Tech

We've already passed the eras of Generations X and Y, but there's no Z on the horizon. Rather, the next generation will probably be affiliated with F, for - yup, you guessed it - Facebook.

"I finally have a Facebook account!" Naufal Alifian shouted gleefully, on coming home from an Internet caf* with his father.

So what? Almost everyone with Internet access has one.

The difference is that third-grader Naufal is only going to turn nine this year. If he complied with the Facebook age limit, he would have to wait four more years to be part of the global hype of social networking. If it is still hype by then, that is.

"Father has one, Uncle Andre, Auntie Arum, my classmates.," Naufal said, listing the people he knew were on Facebook. "I wanted to have one, too. So I can see photos and chat."

Less than a day after opening his account - for which he had added seven years to his real age - Naufal's profile already listed nine friends, shouted "Just learned Facebooking." and featured singer Maia, soap-opera actor Raffi Ahmad and comedian Jack Black Jr. as his idols. His relatives and friends have started writing on his wall and tagging his photos. He's in!

And he is not the only child his age to be doing this.

Perhaps Naufal's father would not have had to manipulate his son's age if he knew that there were already similar websites especially designed for children younger than 13.

Since the "F-virus" started to spread among elementary school children mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom about two years ago, several child versions of the sites have emerged. It remains to be seen whether the phenomenon will prove part of the social-networking gold rush.

Among them are BBC's www.mycbbc.com, Toby Clarck's www.kidswirl.com, the UK's www.schooltogethernow.com and www.facebookforkids.com. None of these is affiliated with Facebook.

Despite using the same name, facebookforkids clearly states it is not affiliated with the original social network, although no doubt the name has contributed to making it the most popular among Indonesian children, as it already lists about 50 members from here. Kidswirl is catching up with around three dozen.

Surely Indonesia's hundreds of other Facebook-literate children are having far too much fun on the regular website to bother migrating to the newcomers, which claim to have greater protection for children against potential online predators.

The two sites offer many of the kinds of features available on the original Facebook, with Kidswirl even adopting a similar layout. What really sets them apart from the adult Facebook is the claim that their websites are safely monitored and moderated to ensure they suit children's needs for online communication.

Although we are living in a highly digitalized era and everyone is connected through the Internet, adults might find themselves wondering just what these children are doing with online social networking. Haven't they already had enough face-to-face chatting with their friends all day at school?

"I just want to share pictures with my friends. Pictures of Naruto," 10-year-old Radhiyya Indra told his mother when asked why he wanted a Facebook account.

"He's a bit late in joining in. He already had several invitations from his classmates before finally getting one," Radhi's mother, 36-year-old Tria Padmadisastra said. "Most of the invitations were from the girls in his class."

Tria, who had also manipulated her son's age in Facebook but closely monitored his use, explained that, fortunately, Radhi had not become addicted. "He simply opened it to share pictures of comic characters like he first said."

However, Tria was astounded to learn, while monitoring Radhi's Facebooking activity, how many of her son's friends were regularly online, busily buzzing on the chat board involving Radhi in gossip about other classmates.

"Fortunately, he is a quiet type and chooses to ignore things that he is not interested in, like gossip," Tria said.

One of Tria's observations could indicate how, even at this young age, there are already marked differences in the ways boys and girls communicate.

"A girl in Radhi's class seems so eager in chatting and posting statuses. Like *I just woke up', *I just had a shower and started FB *Facebooking*'. It seems to be getting updated every minute during the day," Tria said.

Remember we are talking about fourth graders, not yuppies with Blackberries.

When they are at this age, do children really need to be part of online social networking?

"If this kind of modern day communication dominates the daily life of children, their psychosocial development might be hampered," child psychologist Seto Mulyadi said.

"Like it or not, parents must strike the balance between online communication and direct interpersonal communication."

And regardless of whether children are using the original Facebook or the sites specially developed for minors, there remains the danger of them becoming more vulnerable to consumerism, Seto added.

Social networking websites have been known to function as a playground for companies promoting their products.

Research released last year by Oxford University in the United Kingdom also found that the activity could change children's behaviors - and not for the better. According to the study, such sites could potentially "shorten attention spans, encourage instant gratification and make young people more self-centered".

Well, they do say that children learn from the adults around them.

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