360 Social Networking Apps Eventually For Kids

Microsoft's Major Nelson posted an update earlier stating that new social networking apps on the 360 will not be useable by minors for the time being.

Features such as Twitter, Facebook and LastFM are to remain locked for 360 Gold members under the age of 18 until Microsoft can offer a system which will let parents select which applications they want their kids to use. Before there is  mass protest on the subject, Major Nelson explained Microsoft's reasoning behind this decision:

As some of you might be aware, those under the age of 18 are not able to access Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm in our public preview. I want to you let you know that this will remain the case when it launches to the world soon. We made this decision because as it stands now, parents aren’t able to use Family Settings to customize which of these applications their children can access. In order to offer an age-appropriate environment for everyone, we decided to turn off these applications for those Gold members under the age of 18. As expected, this has been a hot topic with the preview users. We want to make sure everyone was aware, however, that the development team is working on an update that gives parents the choice of which social applications their children can access. This means that Xbox LIVE members between the ages of 13 and 17 will be able to use Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm as long as their parents approve. The team hope to roll this out several weeks after launch and I will update you on the exact date as it gets closer.