Has the last bastion of social-networking maturity fallen? Have the previously impenetrable fortresses of bland, but incredibly useful, career tools slipped into the hands of the hungry youth? Will there be a like button?
No, none of these, but hopefully what we will see is a chance for young professionals to hone their skills and CVs for university and job applications which will see them better prepared for life in the big bad world.
If you’ve no idea what I’m on about, LinkedIn, the professional-networking social site has decided to drop its minimum age for membership from 18 to 13.
The decision was made a day after the site rolled out its University Pages, which allow higher education institutions to set up profiles.
Bernie Hogan, of the Oxford Internet Institute, said the development, which takes effect on 12 September, would help children "differentiate between the public profile they want for employment [and] the personal profile they share on Facebook with their friends and family."
"I am personally opposed to employers intruding on Facebook pages while screening candidates," he said. "The risk of unintended discrimination is very high."
I think what we’ll (hopefully) see here is the realisation by younger people that social-networking is part of their life now, and with easy searches, employers or even the police can find them online and see all the nasty bits that they wouldn’t even want their parents to see.
With access to an adult, professional-orientated social-network, school and college pupils will have a head start in defining their professional lives, and even become friends with a prospect university to see what other people are saying about it.
As long as there’s not a whiteboard, eh Michael Birch?
