Kids on the WWW

I was reading the Parent & Child magazine from Scholastic today and they mentioned that children are entering the cyber world of social networking as early as age five these days.
  Naturally, I was thinking it was going to speak about what a bad idea it is to let our kids become so attached to phones and computers at such a young age.  Instead, it was more about how we should allow them to enter the digital age because, lets face it, this will be their entire world one day.  Of course, it mentioned the dangers and the importance of monitoring your children online and also take into account that specific child and their personality and behaviors.

"online socializing allows kids to pick up a good chunk of the interpersonal 

and technological skills they'll need to excel in a contemporary world.  

Many experts focus on other benefits as well, such as exercising 

creativity and self-exploration, practicing writing and typing, 

and learning to handle social challenges in safe forums."

When I was five, I was learning manners and how to socialize in person, make new friends, get along with others, etc.  Things are different these days and our kids will certainly have to learn abbreviations, smileys and the APPROPRIATE TIMES TO CAPS LOCK.  Maybe I’m more old-fashioned than I thought, but wouldn’t age 5 be a little on the young side?

They didn’t specifically say these kids are entering on facebook and myspace for their minimum age requirement of 13, but there are social media sites for kids.  Your thoughts?  What age did/will you allow your kid to step into our world?