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MySpace Safety

Original post made by IT Savvy Daddy, Community Center, on Jun 17, 2006

I want to raise awareness among the youth, and adults alike in regard to logging out of their Myspace accounts when using a public internet access station (mall, library, etc.). If the user forgets, Predators can "jump on" the station after the user leaves, and obtain access to all the data on that user's account, and that user’s friends, and their friends, and so on, despite it being set to "private" by setting the age to 14. We saw this unfold at the mall.

Though the kid that "jumped on" the station after the first group left was most likely not a predator, he did say to the other: "...this dude
didn't log off her Myspace account. Let's post some hard..."

In this case it sounds as if some children may have been subjected to
some "hard core imagery..." without any warning it was coming. What is unsettling is the fact that this scenario could have had an even worse outcome; a predator could have made himself/herself a trusted "friend" of the account holder, and theoretically becoming one of every friend in the user's network of "friends."

I advocate blocking access to Myspace totally. The level of profanity and obscenity on Myspace would never fly in any broadcast or print media, and it certainly shouldn't in any public arenas (malls, schools, libraries, etc.). It is evident that many agree, thus the growing popularity of such sites as Stopspace.com, Net Nanny, etc.

Then there are the predators. With respect to the parents that contend their kids are responsible, and taking in consideration the above scenario, I cite this response from a parent: “I trust my kids not to feed sharks, but I’m not going to let them swim with them.”

IT Savvy Daddy

Comments (2)

Posted by Name hidden
a resident of Meadow Park

on Jun 20, 2006 at 7:03 pm

Due to repeated violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are automatically removed. Why?


Posted by sean
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Jul 28, 2006 at 12:43 am

Have enjoyed visiting and reading this article. We are trying to get our website off the ground and offering parents a forum and tools for social network safety. I have been working locally with parents and organizations to address the issue and answer their questions. The website and products were created to help reach a nationwide audience.

We are most excited about our seminar series that is starting in August and are looking for ways to get the word out. If you know of a good avenue to pursue or can offer a link we would greatly appreciate it.

Also would you mind if we list you as a partner website in addition to our related links section?

Thanks for your time,

Sean
http://www.socialshield.com
info@socialshield.com

Helping Parents Protect Their Children on Social Networks

http://www.socialshield.com


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