Facebook's move to let teenagers share items more widely reflects growing competition among social networks for the attention of teenagers, and the advertisers that want to reach them.
On Wednesday, Facebook said it would let users between the ages of 13 and 17 make posts "public" so that they can be seen by anyone on the network. Previously, teenagers' posts could only be seen by their friends and "friends of friends."
With the shift, Facebook will operate more like rivals such as Twitter, which allow teens to share publicly; Twitter, unlike Facebook, also allows users to create anonymous or pseudonymous accounts. Analysts said that Facebook risks losing the next generation of young users if it doesn't keep pace with competitors.
But some privacy advocates are more concerned about public posts on Facebook than other sites because of its vast reach, with 1.2 billion users world-wide, roughly five times as many as Twitter. Facebook also allows users to post a wider range of media, and to comment more broadly than Twitter.
"This is about monetizing kids and teens," said James Steyer, founder and chief executive of Common Sense Media, a non-profit devoted to online privacy issues.
The change comes amid growing concern about online bullying and safety for children and teenagers. California Gov. Jerry Brown last month signed a law, backed by Steyer, requiring Internet services to let minors delete online posts.
Several groups last month asked the Federal Trade Commission to block a Facebook policy that would allow wider marketing to teens. The group called Facebook's policy an "aggressive mix of data collection, profiling and tracking."
Nicky Colaco, Facebook's manager of privacy and public policy, said executives deliberated carefully before making Wednesday's change, but concluded, "teens do deserve to have a very deliberate and public voice."
As a precaution, she said Facebook added a pop-up warning before teens can post anything publicly, telling them, essentially, "public really means public." Facebook Wednesday also changed the default settings for teen posts so that they can only be seen by "friends," rather than "friends of friends." Teens can still adjust the setting.
Colaco said Facebook has taken other steps to protect teens, including limits on marketing for gambling and dieting, among other subjects. It also attempts to ferret out kids who lie about their age to get around teen privacy policies.
The new policy, Colaco said, emerged from numerous meetings with teenagers who urged the company to let them post publicly so that they could use Facebook for fundraisers, political advocacy and to promote extracurricular activities like bands and sports.
Colaco said Facebook executives discussed the idea with its Safety Advisory Board, which includes representatives of five non-profit groups focused on Internet safety. She said board members concluded that allowing public posts would be empowering for teens, outweighing potential concerns.
Stephen Balkam, chief executive of the Family Online Safety Institute, one of the groups on Facebook's advisory board, said he supported the change. "You could almost argue Facebook has overdone the safety side of it," he said. "A lot of teenagers are leaving because of that," he said.
Lizzie Deane, a 16-year-old student in Manchester, England and vocal advocate for teen access to social media, supported the change.
She said it's important to educate teenagers about the pitfalls of posting publicly. But "I can't see a really valid reason for us not being able to do that," she added. "We should have as much of a voice as adults."
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