Facebook Rolls Out New Messenger for Kids 6-12

Facebook is continuing to widen their influence with the launch of a modified messenger app for kids aged 6-12.  The longstanding rule barring anyone under the age of 13 from creating or owning a Facebook page is still in effect, but this new development is most definitely a move to get a younger demographic groomed and (for lack of a better term) trained for the moment that they graduate to the full fledged Facebook experience.

Here's what it looks like:

The app is called "Messenger for Kids," and it will allow kids to "safely video chat and message with family and friends when they can’t be together in person."  The preview of the app is available to download on iTunes for iPad, iPod touch and iPhone.  To use it, parents will have to download it using their Facebook credentials.  Only parents can add contacts, and will have the ability to exert a huge amount of control over the experience.

Critics say that kids this age already have a plethora of methods to communicate, and introducing them to social media at such a young age could be dangerous.