Google+ has now extended invitations to teenagers, allowing anyone over the age of 13 to sign up to the social networking site. The Internet giant has introduced features to help keep teenagers safe online.
In a bid to prevent kids sharing their content and interacting with anyone unsuitable, Google+ will automatically issue a notification to users who may be unintentionally about to reveal content to users who aren’t in their circle. The site will operate with a default setting for teenagers so that only friends in their own circles can make contact with them, and they will also be able to place a block on any user if they wish. The final safety feature will automatically take a teenager out of a hangout session if a user joins that isn’t in their existing circles. The youngster will be given the choice of rejoining the group if they want to.
Children in Holland aren’t permitted to join the networking site until they are 16 years old, while kids in South Korea and Spain must be over 14 years old. The change in user policy for Google+ is believed by some as a further attempt at competing with Facebook. However, as Facebook has more than 800 million users, Google still has some way to go with around 90 million users.
The policy change by Google will necessitate changes to the search engine optimisation strategies of a number of businesses, as they will be targeting a new and younger audience, like the teenagers in Liverpool.
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