Group items tagged

For Children, a Lie on Facebook Has Consequences, Study Finds

The key to the experiment, explained Keith W. Ross, a computer science professor at N.Y.U. and one of the authors of the study, was to first find known current students at a particular high school. A child could be found, for instance, if she was 10 years old and said she was 13 to sign up for Facebook. Five years later, that same child would show up as 18 years old – an adult, in the eyes of Facebook — when in fact she was only 15. At that point, a stranger could also see a list of her friends.

The key to the experiment, explained Keith W. Ross, a computer science professor at N.Y.U. and one of the authors of the study, was to first find known current students at a particular high school. A child could be found, for instance, if she was 10 years old and said she was 13 to sign up for Facebook. Five years later, that same child would show up as 18 years old – an adult, in the eyes of Facebook — when in fact she was only 15. At that point, a stranger could also see a list of her friends.