After a certain age, yes, I know I appreciated the freedom of BBS's when I was a teenager as well. But up to around 13, building your social network around yo

After a certain age, yes, I know I appreciated the freedom of BBS's when I was a teenager as well. But up to around 13, building your social network around your classmates makes sense. And the ability to exclude older children, and non-students, as well as be able to monitor their activity also makes sense. There isn't the strong need for privacy when you're nine than there is when you're 14.