Previously Facebook had erred on the side of caution and prevented teenagers from sharing public statuses, allowing them only to share posts with their friends and friends of friends.

The company has updated its policy to allow teenagers to post to the world, though the setting is set to 'friends' by default, while it was previously 'friends of friends.'

Facebook is also letting teens turn on the follow feature, so strangers who follow them on Facebook can see all posts set to public.

The move comes as competition increases from rival newer social networks like Tumblr, Instagram and Vine, among a host of others.

Facebook even acknowledged this as being the reason behind the change, nodding to "other social media services."

“While only a small fraction of teens using Facebook might choose to post publicly, this update now gives them the chance to share more broadly, just like on other social media services,” Facebook said in a blog post today.

“We take the safety of teens very seriously, so they will see an extra reminder before they can share publicly,” the company said.

"These changes are designed to improve the experience for teens on Facebook. As part of this, we are also looking at ways to improve the way teens use messages and connect with people they may know."