Last month, our Newsbrief
featured a short expose' on
the dangers that youth face
from adult strangers on
social networking websites
such as MySpace.com. This
month, we will focus briefly
on the dangers that youth
can inflict on themselves
and their peers when using
social networking websites.
A. Teens can use
online blogs to bully and
harass their peers and
teachers.
Teenagers can be
opinionated and it is no
wonder that teen blogs on
social networking sites are
full of expressed opinions.
Some blogs contain praise
for a favorite band or video
game, but a large number of
blogs also contain
discourteous and even
threatening comments about
classmates, teachers, or
parents. MySpace in
particular has a feature
which allows members to rate
each other (from Cold to
Hot) based on their photos
and profiles. The ratings
given and received can be a
strong catalyst for gossip,
bullying, name-calling, and
harassment both on and
offline.
Even kids who would never
bully someone in person can
get seduced by the anonymity
of the Internet and the
feeling of power they may
get when they put someone
down. Kids need to know that
it is never acceptable to
discredit someone else. Even
if they think they are being
funny, they are crossing a
line whenever they
jeopardize someone else’s
reputation or safety by
posting inappropriate
material about that person
in their blog.
Megan, an 11th-grade
student, said friends posted
a picture of someone that
looked like her, lying face
down on the floor. The
caption on the photo said
that she was passed out
drunk at a party. Even
though the girl in the
picture was not Megan,
Megan's reputation was
compromised and rumors of
her “drunkenness” spread
across the school campus for
weeks. If your teen has been
a victim of online bullying,
they should report the
incident to the network's
webmaster for investigation.
B. Teens may overlook
the possibility that the
content of their blogs may
get them into trouble now or
in the future.
When teens put something
down in writing, even if it
is exaggerated, the police
or school authorities may
decide it is no joke and
take punitive action against
them. Furthermore, students
need to realize that the
information they post on
social networking websites
occupies a permanent,
archived place on the web
and may resurface months or
even years after they
created it. As colleges and
employers increasingly
“Google” prospective
applicants during the
interview process, some
teens may even find their
college applications denied
or their chances at a job
shattered because of
offensive, deviant, or
inflammatory material they
have posted in their blogs.
Recently a man in Delaware
lost his job after his boss
found that he had posted
racially offensive comments
in a MySpace blog.
Though teens claim that
teachers and parents are
invading their privacy
whenever they read their
blogs, teens need to realize
that information posted in a
public forum (such as a blog
or a chat room) ceases to be
private the minute it is
posted.
This month, two boys at a
private school in
Pennsylvania were both
suspended for three days
following the discovery that
they had created and posted
a crude and threatening rap
song about several
classmates at their school.
The teens who authored the
song lyrics later insisted
that the rap song was never
intended to be taken
seriously. Regardless of the
author’s intentions, the
content of the song was
offensive and objectionable
and could have gotten the
boys into even more trouble
had their victims chosen to
press charges.
C. Teens can endanger
themselves with suggestive
screen names, photos, and
blog content.
It goes almost without
saying that teens who choose
suggestive (Sexy Suzie) or
needy (Lonely Laurence)
screen names may attract the
wrong type of people to
their sites. Teens that blog
about sexual escapades (true
or fabricated) or post
suggestive photos may
unwittingly compromise their
own safety. By now, most
teens have heard lectures
against posting their
personal information, but
many still do. It is common
for cell phone numbers to
appear in member profiles.
The bottom line is that
teens must be careful about
every single bit of
information that they post
and even more careful in the
formation of online
friendships.
Next Steps: We
recommend that all parents
and teachers conduct at
least a basic exploration of
MySpace.com. For those of
you who have never ventured
onto the MySpace website,
here is what you can expect:
- Go to MySpace.com
and click Sign Up. You
will be asked to enter
your first and last
name, email address, a
password containing at
least one number, and
your zip code.
- Your membership will
be approved and you will
be redirected to a
screen where you can
upload a photo of
yourself.
- If you skip the
photo section, you will
be routed to a new
screen where you have
the option to list all
your friends.
- If you bypass the
friend section, you will
be redirected (finally)
to your homepage on
MySpace.
On your homepage, you
will find that your first
name, age, city, state, and
sign of the Zodiac are
automatically displayed. You
have the option to send an
email or instant message,
add friends to your site,
rank a friend’s appearance,
block a user, get your
messages automatically sent
to your cell phone, add your
school name to your profile,
listen to music, watch
videos, and more. Don't be
surprised if your homepage
includes the photo and
profile of a guy named Tom.
This is Tom Anderson,
President and Co-Founder of
MySpace. He wants to be your
first friend on MySpace.
Hopefully, your
exploration of MySpace will
give you a glimpse into the
amazing and sometimes
alarming world of social
networking sites. Your
involvement and your teen's
level of maturity and
self-control will play a big
part in their success at
using a social networking
site safely.
