First and for most I intend no offense here. I suppose you can also call this article 'Why Maturity Is Important'. I don't hate or even dislike 12 and under users. So please don't get the wrong idea.
First and foremost I agree with it for the simple fact that rules are rules. There's an age limit for a reason.
And rules are usually in place for safety. In this case it isn't so much physical safety as it is mental safety. I have seen a vast array of young users who couldn't have been older than 8 post images of themselves all over. Okay, that's their choice, but it is a little dangerous. I don't mean to sound like the over barring mother, but that's like the number one rule of the internet--don't post images of yourself. Especially when you're so young. Outside the obvious one. I have seen so so many 13- users freak out over cussing. This is a social media site, of course there will be cussing. That's probably part of the reason why the rule is in place--the fanpop 4 are more than aware of this. On social media it is rather hard to ban cussing so putting an age restriction can help...if obeyed. A good number of users 13 and under are sensitive about swearing. This may sound harsh, but if you can't handle some cursing then you're not mature enough for fanpop (and social media sites in general).
And how about spots like yuri/yaoi, sex and sexuality, and debate (to name a few specifics) as well as religion and politic themed spots. I can't see a younger user handling the debate spot maturely. But more on point; a kid on the yuri spot. That spot has been removed for rather explicit content. I can imagine a young user in tears if he/she comes upon that. And how about the spam? Spammers have posted pornographic images on spots, what if a child stumbles upon that?
Point two is where the 'maturity is key' lies. Let me share a story; about a year or so ago there was this user (I believe the username was amyrose8) she posted a question stating 'do you like Sonic'. I and a few others gave a simple no or not really. She went nuts on us calling us obscene names and then declaring that she was only 8 so we can't report her or say anything bad about her. I honestly didn't want to pick on an 8 year old so I settled for reporting. However she proceeded to yell at people on their walls and had changed her icon to an angry Sonic icon "because it shows how I feel about you guys".
So What's the point of this story? The point is some (not all) users under 12 just don't know how to handle opinions. And I get it, I've been there. I was the 10 who found a Winx blog and freaked out at anyone who hated my favorite character. Looking back, I wish someone would have gotten me banned from that site. I've seen a user (claiming to be only 11) cuss out someone for not liking MLP. If you can't handle opinions, Fanpop probably isn't the best site for you. And typically young children aren't the best at dealing with opinions. Children are naturally egocentric, basic psychology reveals that young children have a hard time grasping the fact that people have different opinions than they.
And then there are users like 'winxass' this was a girl (claiming to be 9) who constantly used vulgar language and didn't even do it right. This was the user who said things like 'I hate Will, her ass is so bitchy' and called a character wearing a classic ballet outfit a prostitute. I don't even think she knew what a prostitute was. The point here is that there are two extremes; the sensitive to swearing ones and the ones who discover all these new words and try to find new and 'creative' was to use them.
Speaking of new and creative; I know older users will do this too, but the users under 13 have this thing for text talk. It's like they just discovered it and use it for everything even when it's not called for. I'm fine with text talk if it's not done in excess. And if it's not text talk it's really poor spelling and grammar. Again I get it, there are other factors (English is a second language, typos, etc.) however if it's every other word it gets a little ridiculous. The reason I pin this more on the younger users (particularly the ones under 10) is because they haven't finished their English education yet. They may or may not have learned how to spell or use proper grammar yet. And for that reason they probably shouldn't use social media--not because it's annoying, but for their own safety. Once again I've been there; I used to spell like crap (and hated capitalization). And I got picked on for it. People on this site made me feel bad for it. I was 13 at the time. I don't have a problem at all with a few spelling errors, but if I'm squinting my eyes and straining my brain trying to translate/read a comment, that's where I have a problem.
Long story short, it's all in the maturity; if you can handle opinions, at least try to use clear English, and can handle cussing and mature topics then everything is good. But if you are really young and know that you're uncomfortable with such, maybe fanpop isn't the best idea yet.
First and foremost I agree with it for the simple fact that rules are rules. There's an age limit for a reason.
And rules are usually in place for safety. In this case it isn't so much physical safety as it is mental safety. I have seen a vast array of young users who couldn't have been older than 8 post images of themselves all over. Okay, that's their choice, but it is a little dangerous. I don't mean to sound like the over barring mother, but that's like the number one rule of the internet--don't post images of yourself. Especially when you're so young. Outside the obvious one. I have seen so so many 13- users freak out over cussing. This is a social media site, of course there will be cussing. That's probably part of the reason why the rule is in place--the fanpop 4 are more than aware of this. On social media it is rather hard to ban cussing so putting an age restriction can help...if obeyed. A good number of users 13 and under are sensitive about swearing. This may sound harsh, but if you can't handle some cursing then you're not mature enough for fanpop (and social media sites in general).
And how about spots like yuri/yaoi, sex and sexuality, and debate (to name a few specifics) as well as religion and politic themed spots. I can't see a younger user handling the debate spot maturely. But more on point; a kid on the yuri spot. That spot has been removed for rather explicit content. I can imagine a young user in tears if he/she comes upon that. And how about the spam? Spammers have posted pornographic images on spots, what if a child stumbles upon that?
Point two is where the 'maturity is key' lies. Let me share a story; about a year or so ago there was this user (I believe the username was amyrose8) she posted a question stating 'do you like Sonic'. I and a few others gave a simple no or not really. She went nuts on us calling us obscene names and then declaring that she was only 8 so we can't report her or say anything bad about her. I honestly didn't want to pick on an 8 year old so I settled for reporting. However she proceeded to yell at people on their walls and had changed her icon to an angry Sonic icon "because it shows how I feel about you guys".
So What's the point of this story? The point is some (not all) users under 12 just don't know how to handle opinions. And I get it, I've been there. I was the 10 who found a Winx blog and freaked out at anyone who hated my favorite character. Looking back, I wish someone would have gotten me banned from that site. I've seen a user (claiming to be only 11) cuss out someone for not liking MLP. If you can't handle opinions, Fanpop probably isn't the best site for you. And typically young children aren't the best at dealing with opinions. Children are naturally egocentric, basic psychology reveals that young children have a hard time grasping the fact that people have different opinions than they.
And then there are users like 'winxass' this was a girl (claiming to be 9) who constantly used vulgar language and didn't even do it right. This was the user who said things like 'I hate Will, her ass is so bitchy' and called a character wearing a classic ballet outfit a prostitute. I don't even think she knew what a prostitute was. The point here is that there are two extremes; the sensitive to swearing ones and the ones who discover all these new words and try to find new and 'creative' was to use them.
Speaking of new and creative; I know older users will do this too, but the users under 13 have this thing for text talk. It's like they just discovered it and use it for everything even when it's not called for. I'm fine with text talk if it's not done in excess. And if it's not text talk it's really poor spelling and grammar. Again I get it, there are other factors (English is a second language, typos, etc.) however if it's every other word it gets a little ridiculous. The reason I pin this more on the younger users (particularly the ones under 10) is because they haven't finished their English education yet. They may or may not have learned how to spell or use proper grammar yet. And for that reason they probably shouldn't use social media--not because it's annoying, but for their own safety. Once again I've been there; I used to spell like crap (and hated capitalization). And I got picked on for it. People on this site made me feel bad for it. I was 13 at the time. I don't have a problem at all with a few spelling errors, but if I'm squinting my eyes and straining my brain trying to translate/read a comment, that's where I have a problem.
Long story short, it's all in the maturity; if you can handle opinions, at least try to use clear English, and can handle cussing and mature topics then everything is good. But if you are really young and know that you're uncomfortable with such, maybe fanpop isn't the best idea yet.
