Can you be too old (or young) for Twitter?
It’s fun to watch people “get” Twitter and all its simplicity. Just this past week, I’ve got my mother using Twitter and one of my former work-study students, now employed as full-time web developer, get it as well. They were both skeptical at first, but as they tried it and explored its possibilities they both reached that “A-ha” moment where it all clicks.
You know who else gets Twitter, or at least pays attention to it? My six-year-old. This story is completely true. My wife will vouch for me.
We were driving around our town last night and our six year old was talking about sending text messages to his grandmother. He was in the back seat pretending to be on a phone sending messages, when he said, and this is a total quote:
“Mom, I just got a message from Brad J. Ward.”
Completely true. I’ve never mentioned Brad’s name to him before, so he must have seen it pop up on my Twitter a few times. Kids don’t miss anything. I bet he’s the only first grader in his class to know what Twitter is.
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6 Responses to “Can you be too old (or young) for Twitter?”
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LOL!!!!!! Oh man, I don’t even know what to say. Hilarious that he used the middle initial too. Thanks for sharing that story.
We’re transcending age boundaries.
Mike, My seven year old daughter is mad at Twitter because the TOS says she has to wait until she’s 13. She outgrew Club Penquin and WebKinz years ago.
Too funny! Hey, Brad, that’s what I call famous when 6-year old kids starts to pretend they know you
He’s not a Twitter user yet (but has his own email address). I’m thinking I left Twitter on my phone or Mac at home and he saw the name pop up.
I wonder if someone will make a Twitter-like client for the under-13 set. The logistics of trying to make sure people are who they say they are must be really hard to do.
Mark - do you find the users of Club Penguin are mostly who they say they are?
I don’t think we will see a Twitter-like client for younger kids for the reasons you mention. The reason we use Club Penguin is because it has good parental controls. (This is also why my daughter is bored with it.) My daughter’s username is intentionally anonymous. I don’t want anyone knowing who she really.
The helicopter parent in me is very cautious about protecting my daughter online. When something like a Nintendo DS has the potential to connect with strangers, it makes me nervous.
See http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25716317#25716317
Twitter’s TOS states 13, but the only thing they’ll do is delete the account if you’re in violation. So what’s worse, not having one, or having one with the potential of losing it? Should be an easy decision for a 10-12 year old — right?