From Myspace to Facebook and Twitter, teens and adults are using social networking sites to stay connected all across the globe.  Now their popularity is spreading to younger crowds, but where do you draw the line?

For most social networking web sites you have to be at least 13 to sign up for an account, but many children are ignoring these age requirements.

Stephanie Farinelli is a mother of three. Her oldest child is almost 13 years old. While she does allow him to have a Facebook profile, it doesn't go unsupervised.

"I mainly watch language and who he is friends with," Farinelli said.

New research shows 61 percent of kids ages 12 to 17 have an online profile and almost half of them claim to log on daily. Family therapist Karen Kent said most social networks are fine for teens but can cause social problems for younger users later in life.

"Used earlier than that and they interrupt the developmental sequence that needs to happen when people are face to face or have contact through the phone, actually talking to another human being," Kent said.  

Farinelli says her 10 year old daughter has expressed interest in joining the site.

"She is too young. It's not going to happen," Farinelli said.

She didn't feel her son was mature enough to sign up until he was twelve. But even now, she does have concerns with her son surfing the web.

"Clicking on a link that's not appropriate or not family friendly, I worry about that or what they're saying or how they're talking, things that I'm not ready for his eyes to see," Farinelli said.

Kent said without personal interactions, often times inhibitions decrease.

"You may say things and say them in a way you would never say to someone face to face.  That's not a good habit to get in to," Kent said.

But there are some benefits, Farinelli said her son is now keeping in touch with distant family members.
 

She said, "They don't always want to be on the telephone talking to old people.  He is chatting with older relatives so that's cool."

"Remember that this is entertainment and it has a place and that it is a fun thing to do entertainment wise, but should be a small portion of your time," Kent said.

There are a growing number of networking sites geared specifically toward users as young as five such as Disney's Club Penguin, Webkinz and Whyville. While some worry these sites are like a training ground for future use of mainstream social networks, the creator of Kidswirl said we're a technology driven generation and users only spend an average of five minutes on these sites.