MySpace has over 60 million profiles, but concerns about online predators have raised safety issues. Parents can protect their children by using fake names, webmail addresses, not sharing personal information, and avoiding meeting strangers from the site. Encourage kids to tell you if someone is pushing for personal information or asking to meet. Other options include not posting a profile picture and keeping the profile private.
MySpace is a thriving online community boasting over 60 million personal profiles aimed primarily at young people. For anyone between the ages of 14 and 18, having a profile on the site is almost synonymous with having a cell phone or MP3 player. However, growing concerns about online predators have caused many to question the safety of MySpace. While the site has taken steps to improve safeguards, many users put themselves at risk by revealing personal information such as name or location, or worse, agreeing to meet strangers. Parents can take an active role in protecting their children by making sure they follow a few simple rules.
Choose a fake name that will only be used on MySpace and nowhere else. A real name can be traced back to an address and phone number, and frequently used nicknames are often traceable as well. Choose a new name that will be unique to the site.
Get a free webmail address for the nickname and use this address for the site only. A webmail address does not trace your personal location, unlike your Internet Service Provider (ISP) email address. Ask your child to enter false information to get the webmail address so it doesn’t get cross-referenced with their real name. Use this webmail address for MySpace only. Using your email address elsewhere will increase the potential for triangulation between databases, which can reveal your true identity or location.
Ask your child not to share clues about their whereabouts. It’s easier than you imagine for a predator with a photo to sit outside a school and watch children come and go, scanning the crowd for a particular face. If a MySpace profile or blog contains references by name to schools, malls, or movie theaters when your child hangs out, a fake name will be mere inconvenience to a given predator.
Teach kids how to post or blog about experiences without revealing which school, mall, or theater they’re posting from. Once a teen understands that names are incidental anyway, she shouldn’t get in the way of enjoying using the site to share experiences. For example, a teenager may post about “the math teacher” rather than “Mr. Simon.”
A teenager should never post where he will be. For obvious reasons, this is a bad idea. Children should also avoid revealing their parents’ schedules or holidays.
People aren’t always who they say they are. Anyone can create a fake profile with someone else’s picture. Predators excel at manipulation and charm and often pose as other teenagers. Let your kids know that, as much as strangers they meet online might like them, they shouldn’t give them personal information or trespass into inappropriate areas of conversation.
Don’t agree to meet friends known only from MySpace. It may seem harmless to meet “16-year-old Beth” — but “Beth” may not be a 16-year-old girl at all. The key to enjoying the site safely is to enjoy it without having to gamble real life trust.
Encourage your kids to tell you if an online “friend” is pushing for personal information or asking to meet. Even a nice person might be curious and ask a few nosy questions or make a friendly invitation to meet. However, once your child politely explains that they don’t share personal information online and don’t meet friends online, the behavior should stop.
Other options are to refrain from posting a profile picture and keep your MySpace profile private. However, these tips may not sit well with teenagers. Profiles without pictures can be seen as cheesy, while “private profiles” – accessible by invitation only – are mandatory for under 16s, which can make the feature undesirable for older teens. Some MySpace members choose to fill out “the survey,” which asks provocative questions of the member about their experience with sex and drugs. Many parents would probably agree that this information doesn’t belong in a public profile.
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