CorpComms Magazine

Up to one million children aged between seven and 12 sign in to Facebook every day, despite the age restriction of 13 years or older in place on the site.

The report carried out by market research firm Mintel, found that approximately 970,000 children claimed to use the site daily, while the rest claimed to use the site on just some days.

The research firm claims that 95 per cent of children in this age group have used the social networking site at some point.

The next most popular sites amongst children are Disney's Club Penguin, Twitter and book publisher Penguin's forum. However just one in ten admitted to visiting these sites on a daily basis.

The survey revealed that almost a quarter in this age group are using smartphones to access the Internet, despite just 41 per cent of adults having one of their own.

Ina Mitskavets, consumer and lifestyle analyst at Mintel, said: 'Being digital natives, today's children are well-versed in all aspects of technology and the Internet, and despite the age restrictions, an estimated 0.97 million children aged seven to 12 use Facebook on a daily basis. Friends' acceptance is an important factor driving social network adoption, but peer influence is also essential in new product discovery, especially for games, electronic gadgets, music and films.'

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