Facebook allows teens to go public with posts

Facebook Inc has pulled out a restriction for users under 18 that barred people from viewing their online postings from photos to musings on the world-wide social network.

According to the No 1 online social network, teenagers would now be able to manually alter the setting and share information with the public. Teenagers' postings on Facebook till now could be viewed only by their friends, and the friends of their friends.

However, the social network said yesterday the default setting for teens sharing information on the 1.15 billion user network would go out to a narrower group of people.

"Teens are among the savviest people using of social media, and whether it comes to civic engagement, activism, or their thoughts on a new movie, they want to be heard," Facebook said in an announcement of the changes.

"While only a small fraction of teens using Facebook might choose to post publicly, this update now gives them the choice to share more broadly, just like on other social media services," the company said.

The change comes with the social network coming under increasing competition from a new crop of mobile and social services, such as SnapChat and WhatsApp, that had proved popular with younger users.

With the removal of the restriction teens would also be able to turn on the 'follow' features, so strangers who followed them on Facebook could see all posts set to public.

According to commentators, with the move, Facebook would be able to better compete with other networks that gave them the ability to live their lives out in the open.

''While only a small fraction of teens using Facebook might choose to post publicly, this update now gives them the chance to share more broadly, just like on other social media services,'' Facebook said in a Wednesday blog post.

Teens, however, may choose to keep their privacy settings locked down, and Facebook would repeatedly ask them if they were sure they want to post publicly.

''We take the safety of teens very seriously, so they will see an extra reminder before they can share publicly,'' the company said.