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With the rise of social media, we have more opportunities to socialize and be heard. We can connect with people from all over the world. According to the survey, over 4.70 billion users are on social media. However, the internet and all it offers are not like real life.
Since the internet takes a different social and legal form, new issues come with it. One of the biggest issues in terms of safety is that of identity.
Companies have adopted measures to ensure that users are safe using these platforms. These safety measures include user and age verification. It can help keep out spammers, hackers, and other bad actors who would like nothing more than to exploit vulnerable people online.
Age verification is important to ensure the safety of your data on social media platforms. If a user can’t verify their age, they won’t be able to use any of these sites safely. It means that you need to be able to prove that you are over 18 years old before using any of these sites.
But the question is, how can age verification contribute to social media safety? Let’s check it out.
Age Verification for Social Media Safety
1 Helps Keep Spammers and Hackers Out
When you sign up for a new account on a social media platform, you’re usually asked to give certain information about yourself. It is called verification. Verification can be as simple as confirming your email address. It can be complex on some social sites as scanning your government-issued ID.
Spammers, hackers, and other malicious actors can use social media to spread messages that look real. But don’t represent the beliefs or actions of the person they portray. Sometimes, these messages may even contain malware designed to steal personal information from infected users.
Verifying users makes it harder for spammers and hackers. Because it adds another layer of security between them and their victims. A layer that could be used by someone who doesn’t want spam.
The user and age verification system will help keep your users safe from the dangers of cyberbullying and underage content. It will allow you to monitor whether or not an account holder is over 18 without human intervention.
This means you can take full advantage of a secure and trustworthy platform to run your business. You can also use it to prevent underage access to your site, which can be an issue for any business.
The verification system combats social media platforms’ abuse and ensures you’re an actual human with a verified identity. Social media “bots” are often used by nefarious persons to spread propaganda and misinformation on social media. By confirming your identity, you’re helping to keep social media platforms “real” and free from misinformation.
2 Protects Children from Inappropriate Content
If you’re a parent, you know it can be hard to track what your child is exposed to on their phone or computer. It is important when they are using apps like Instagram and Facebook. The average person spends over 2 hours daily on social media sites.
Most of those sites allow users to share information with strangers. That’s why it’s so important to protect kids from inappropriate content by verifying their age.
Age verification allows parents or guardians control over whom their children follow on social media platforms. It makes it easier for parents to monitor what kind of content their kids see online. Preventing predators from approaching impressionable teenagers also stops cyberbullying.
If a predator attempts contact through direct messaging or emailing someone underage, they’ll receive an alert stating that someone is trying to contact their kid using this method. You can choose to block future contacts entirely if required.
3 Ensures Compliance with Laws
Age verification creates a two-tier system for content on social media sites. Content for people under the age of 18 and content for people over 18. It can be unclear for users trying to access the content they are not allowed to see because they are under 18. But it also allows companies to target ads specifically for those users.
The problem with this type of targeting is that it may not be legal in some jurisdictions, especially if you live in one of the many countries where adult content is illegal.
In addition, even if your country has no laws against adult content, there may be other laws against distributing or viewing sexually explicit material. It could result in fines or even jail time if you violate those laws by accessing adult content through your ISP.
4 Provides an Opportunity for Market Research
An age verification company might be able to use Facebook’s data on its users to find out how old they are. It may help them predict if a person is likely to be a target for fraud or other illicit behavior.
Age verification also provides an opportunity for companies to sell their products to their target market. For example, a company may want to target its marketing efforts on those who are over the age of 50. They can send advertising emails or notifications about new products or services.
Additionally, age verification can track user behavior and trends over time. This information can be used to improve the user experience on a website. It can also help make changes to a product or service based on customer feedback.
Final Thoughts
Social media is a great tool for keeping in touch with friends, family, and individuals worldwide. Most social media platforms are free and are easy for anyone to join. Due to the accessibility of social media, it’s important to ensure you are protecting yourself and your information.
As more people join social media sites worldwide, more and more social media dangers are beginning to arise. Some of these dangers include: cyberbullying, online predators, online harassment, online scams, and other online crimes. User and age verification help users keep their information safe.
As we’ve seen, user and age verification can contribute to social media safety in several ways. User validation helps keep out bad actors by preventing them from creating accounts. It helps keep children safe from inappropriate content on the site and each other.
Age verification also provides an opportunity for data mining and market research with user information. These things are important to help social networks stay secure while still being accessible.
