I was just reading the Facebook “about” page, and noticed this link:
I decided to have a look at their terms of service (TOS) in order to see whether that statement is true. Well, the long version goes like this:
Membership in the Service is void where prohibited. This Site is intended solely for users who are thirteen (13) years of age or older, and users of the Site under 18 who are currently in high school or college. Any registration by, use of or access to the Site by anyone under 13, or by anyone who is under 18 and not in high school or college, is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use. By using the Service or the Site, you represent and warrant that you are 13 or older and in high school or college, or else that you are 18 or older, and that you agree to and to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
I’m over 18, but disingenuous copy such as the above still annoys me. (Yes, I’m a pedantic person.) Also, the TOS snippet is intrinsically conflicting - the second sentence sets the age limit at 13, while the third sentence states that persons between 13 and 18 years of age qualify only if they are high school or college students. Additionally, the interpretation of “high school” probably varies from country to country.
Finally, while I do have a Facebook account, I almost never use it. Compared to LinkedIn, Facebook appears both complicated and of little real-world use.
What do you think? Please post your comments!
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