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Comment by rataata_jr | Hacker News Reader

Should have been 18.

I think they chose 16 because some of their biggest stars are in the 16 to 18 age range (for better or for worse). For example Charli D'amelio, who has 100 million+ followers and has become a celebrity in her own right. I personally agree that it should be 18, and ditto for Instagram and YouTube etc, but I expect that is the business reasoning behind the decision.

Is 18 some magic age where people wisen up?

They probably should have made all accounts under 50 private.

It's the age where the majority of legal systems draw the line on considering a teenager to be an adult, so it isn't unreasonable.

This is the age where the last legal distinction is removed, there tend to be a lot of age related regulations that change over the years before that.

18 is pretty much only reasonable when it directly aligns with a legal requirement. Otherwise it is not the most reasonable, but the most lazy choice.

I think there is some research that maturity kicks in around 25. Something to do with neo frontal cortex development.

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?Con...

Myelination of our brains. In super simplified terms, it is over clocking our brains part by part. It continues until mid to late 20s.

>After infancy, the rate of myelination slowed during childhood and adolescence, but exhibited continued growth until the end of the third decade. Specifically, mean MFLD during later adulthood (defined as ≥28 y) was significantly greater than in adolescence and early adulthood (11–23 y; Welch t, P = 0.000059; Mann–Whitney U, P = 0.00016).

https://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16480

Our (dorsolateral) prefrontal cortex is one of the last parts to myelinate.

>The last areas to myelinate are the anterior cingulate cortex (F#43), the inferior temporal cortex (F#44) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (F#45).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelinogenesis

This is the area of the brain that handles things like planning and abstract reasoning (though it isn't the only area involved in such thinking).

>Is 18 some magic age where people wisen up?

Yes, to the extent we accept it so much we made it into law. Though the law does seem to pick a few different age groups for other things based on a seemingly arbitrary standard. Lower for driving, even though bad driving could kill innocent bystanders. Higher for smoking, even though smoking only kills yourself. You can even sign up and join the military a year before you are able to vote for the politicians who control it.

Age of majority varies between different countries, 15 in Indonesia, 16 in Scotland and Vietname, 17 in Tajikistan, 19 in many Canadian states, 20 in New Zealand and Japan (currently) and Thailand, 21 in Singapore

Canada does not have states.

I suspect Quebec might be the one that has different rules

For once Quebec is part of the majority in Canada with 18. There are only 4 provinces that set the age of majority at 19 which are BC, NS, NB and NFL.

To latch onto this comment, a lot of countries have slowly increased the age of maturity over time; in my country, the minimum drinking age has gone up to 18 (from 16 for light alcohol), while at the same time the age you can start learning to drive has gone down to 17 or 17,5 (you can practice in simulators at that point iirc). Just to name some examples.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure people are allowed to stay children for longer nowadays, instead of being told to marry and work in the coal mines in their early-to-mid teens.

More cynically / conspiratorial / on the other hand, people are kept infantilized as well as a means of control by various parties in whose interest it is to keep a population docile and dumb. Can't overthrow the government if you've got scantily clad teens to watch.

Fun fact: in my country the drinking ages are 0, 5, 16 and 18. 18 to buy, 16 to drink with a meal in public, 5 to drink in private and 0 if it's a medical emergency.

New Zealand is bringing it down from 20 to 18 at the end of the month. Most restrictions aren't to do with the age of being an adult though.

For example in Britain (age of majority 18, 16 in Scotland)

Sex: 16

Marriage without parental consent: 18, except Scotland (16 for local elections, 16 for Wales coming in next year)

School leaving: 16, but must remain in education outside of school (say official apprentice) until 18

Drinking: 18, 16 in public with a meal when bought by parent, either 0 or 5 at home

Driving: 16 moped + tractor, 17 cars, some vehicles are even higher (23 or 24 for powerful motorbikes for example, 21 for minibusses unless in the army)

Smoking: 18 to buy, 16 to smoke in E+W, 18 to smoke in Scotland

Gambling: 18 (lottery was 16 until recently)

Voting: 18, except in some caes in Scotland where it's 16

16-18 are also made private but a 17-18 year old can change it.

That would be catastrophic for TikTok from a business perspective, as they'd lose 30% of their content overnight. In my experience, most 16+ year olds are quite capable handling themselves on social media.

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