Google+

[conradk]

see the thing is, most of my friends will probably use plus. they all have a Facebook—I'm not allowed to. so I have buzz
if they do use it, then I want to be all "ha I'm all set up already!" to them, and chances are I will be allowed to use it.
and I don't have to worry about universities stalking me online (too much.) I'm either gonna be a programmer or a singer (that's a "wth?" combo!), but I'm more likely to be a programmer, and I will never really talk about any code on it to them, so nothing to worry about!
plus im not gonna do anything (or much) bad, and anything I wouldn't want an employer knowing, I wouldn't say (or I'd delete all records of it).

as for why they're doing it, I guess it's just to protect those underage. i understand what Google is trying to do as, as you said, little kids will probably be stupid. however, the current sign up age should be at least 13, maybe even 10 or 11. it's by that age that children start maturing to (as I say) mentally sane and conscious state, where they start to get a real sense of the world, and what's right and wrong.
so yeah I should be able to if I had a say in the matter.

Sadly, I think you're wrong. People are NOT mature at 10 or 11, not even at 16 sometimes. And even at 18, you're not always mature.

You think you're gonna be a programmer or a singer, but you've got some years left, and no one knows what will really happen. Additionally, you can delete records, but what was once public on the internet is public forever. It makes sense to me that Google allows G+ to 18 year olds. Even though you're mad, I think it's best, even if you don't know it yet.

There would be however a better solution:
Education. We don't get educated enough, at least not here in France, about the dangers of Internet when we're 10-11 ... That is the biggest problem, as people like yourself think they know how to protect themselves even though they don't. You might, but a lot don't. If there was more education as the age 11, Google and Facebook could welcome 13 year olds very easily I think.

[JelvinJS7]

Sadly, I think you're wrong. People are NOT mature at 10 or 11, not even at 16 sometimes. And even at 18, you're not always mature.

I'm not saying you fully are. that's when it starts.

You think you're gonna be a programmer or a singer, but you've got some years left, and no one knows what will really happen.

that's what I want, and granted me, it's probably where I'm gonna go.

It makes sense to me that Google allows G+ to 18 year olds. Even though you're mad, I think it's best, even if you don't know it yet.

a limit makes sense. I'm just not sure they have the right limit

[conradk]

As said, I don't think they have the right limit either. But I don't think they have the choice to do otherwise :/

[jacek]

Yes I am replying to about 10 posts, deal with it (by ignoring this if you like)

but i'l disobey your tweet and pm you here, not phpacademy

Works for me I come here more often. Love the speed of the server ! PHP Academy is kind of slow compared to this :s

It gets painful sometimes, Alex hosts lots of sites on a VPS. My server should be a lot slower than it is, it's only a baby Hopefully be getting an upgrade if I can fund it.

GRRR I'm not 18, so I can't use it!
is that gonna be final?

That is fairly terrible. To be honest there is no need for it from google ! Social networking sites can be very useful for kids and the internet is about openness (or it should be) thinking about the server, there is no reason to not let people under 18 use it. They could have handed this in a much better way, instead of having an age limit, they could limit the privacy settings for young users or maybe all users and only allow them to be changed after X time. They could also provide some of that education that Conrad mentioned.

On the maturity thing, the problem is that it is not the same for everyone if you go into any town centre on a Friday night you will see hundreds of people over 30 acting more immature than most children.

You might, but a lot don't.

This is an important point, just because a lot of people under 18 are not that well educated on how to be safe online does not mean that none of them should be allowed to use Google+.


And finally a bump for this post as it could have easily been missed

any more invites available?

[conradk]

Invites are unlimited now I think. If anyone needs one, just PM me with your email adress

[EcazS]

Maybe when they open up for full they will remove the age limit. Maybe they only had it now for "testing purposes".

[JelvinJS7]

Maybe when they open up for full they will remove the age limit. Maybe they only had it now for "testing purposes".

I'm pretty sure that's it. I think what's happening is that it's for 18+ currently so that little kids don't screw themselves before the privacy bugs are fixed.
Still, I say the limit is too high for that though.