

When kids block contacts, parents are notified.

But, hey, we could all use a reason to reflect on why, exactly, we’re on this messaging app-or social media at all. Parents can manage their kids' contact list, and monitor messages on the Messenger Kids app. Aggressive safety tools? Yes please! A mandatory pledge “be kind, be respectful, be safe, have fun”? Maybe not. The home screen shows them at a glance who they are connected to, and when those contacts are online. Once their account is set up by a parent, kids can start a one-on-one or group video chat.

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So too are the scaled-down international versions of many well-known apps, most of which end up benefiting from their limited features. Messenger Kids is made for Kids but controlled by parents, the app is full of features for kids to connect with the people they love. When children turn 13, they won’t instantly have their Messenger Kids profiles. Other facets of the technicolor diamond that is Messenger Kids feel similarly desirable. While Facebook said in the briefing that the app was designed for kids age 6 to 12, younger kids are allowed on, too. (Unless you, an adult, login and change your own settings, of course.) Passed the 15-minute threshold for Twitter? Too bad. Not only can you see how much time you spend on each app, you can grant yourself a maximum amount of time on each app.
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But 2018 has seen that theory debunked: the new iOS and Android software debuted with screen time monitoring functions. It seems that few adults would take to a Messenger Kids-style shutdown-an unseen hand turning your device off simply because the clock switched over to, say, 8 p.m. You can send text-based messages and video chat, just as you would in the regular app, except this video chat comes with a few dozen augmented reality options, so you can try on Santa’s beard or watch a UFO abduct a cow off the cornfield that is your mom’s head. When a user first opens it-something they can only do if they were born in 2005 or later, or make a fake account posing as someone 13 or younger-they’re met with a few magenta panels, each representing one of their parent-approved contacts. The app has the same logo as regular Messenger, but with a lime green color gradient of dots. Visually, Messenger Kids is a Betty Crocker confetti cake. Critics, however, say Facebook has really just built a colorful data collection apparatus, that gleans data on your children and “ get them started young.” But after a year on the market, it’s clear (to me, at least) that the app’s real victims are adults-because they don’t get to use it. The tech behemoth positioned Messenger Kids as a way for parents to responsibly introduce their children to what will inevitably be a very digital life. The neon-washed, parent-controlled version of the standard app was met with some fanfare, and a lot of skepticism. In 2017, Facebook rolled out a special kids-only messaging app in the United States. Facebook’s app for kids promises chatting without the tracking.
