Baby Wants A Facebook Account, 92% Of Toddlers Have Their Own Social Media Presence

A recent study conducted by the Internet security firm AVG has discovered that nearly 92% of children in the U.S have some type of online presence by the time they reach just 2 years of age. The study included 2,200 mothers who told the firm that 81% of their babies have photos uploaded to their accounts or have their very own social network accounts setup for keeping friends and family informed of their daily activities. The total number of toddlers (2 years and under) with accounts in the U.S. alone is a staggering 92% compared to 73% in Europe. That same study states that nearly one in four children in the United States have an online presence before their even born, while that number increases to 37% in Canada and falls to just under 15% in western Europe. The study also shows that 7% of babies have their own e-mail addresses made for them right after they are born. The research also shows that mothers are often just "following the crowd," with 18% of mothers stating that they were just creating accounts because their friends did it for their own children. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, would be happy to know that only 3.5% of mothers questioned said they were concerned about their child's personal information being stored on line from the time of birth (or earlier) and into their adulthood.

Google News Chooses Twitter Over Google Buzz? Color me confused, but it looks like Google is attempting on making Google News more social by showing your tweet friends what stories they share from the service. While Twitter's addition is not surprising, Google Buzz's absence is. Friends is an experimental section in the side column that helps you find news articles that your friends are sharing on Twitter. In the open text box, enter your Twitter username and click "Save." Google News will refresh, and you will see a list of updates containing news articles shared by the people you follow. Please note that Friends only shows you articles that can be found in Google News. If someone you follow has shared an article or a link that cannot be found in Google News, then you will not see that update in the Friends section. (Google News Help) Note: Emphasis Google's. According to TechCrunch this appears to be Google's answer to Facebook as the search engine giant seems more content creating "social layers" rather than a social network (like the oft rumored Google Me). While utilizing Twitter is probably wise (considering how fast the site is growing), it's puzzling that Google didn't also include Google Buzz along with the experiment. Perhaps this might be a sign of Google Buzz's failure, as the site has thus far only attracted an elite audience of geeks and artists (which might explain why it has been heavily embraced by Blogger and Picasa Web Albums, respectively). Although Google New's tweet integration has yet to exit beta mode (or would one consider this Alpha?), Google's cold shoulder to Buzz may indicate that the company has given up on the social wars, ceding control to ex-Googlers like Evan Williams as well as to Zuckerberg.