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What is MySpace?
MySpace is one of the world's largest online social networks. It is, in some ways, very similar to its main competitor, Facebook. With more than 50 million users, MySpace is a place where anyone 13 and older can create a free account. Once you have an account, you can post pictures, videos, and any other information about yourself. Other MySpace users can see what you post, and you can see many other MySpace users' pages. You can choose to make your page "private," so that only selected friends can view your material, but many MySpace users choose to leave their pages open to help build a larger group of friends or to meet more people online.
Concerns for Parents
- Like any social networking website, MySpace puts your child at risk for sexual solicitation from online predators. MySpace presents unique risks, however, because of the sheer size of the site, the young ages of most users, and the tendency users have to post sexual or suggestive images of themselves in order to get attention from others. Some have even called MySpace "one-stop catalog shopping for predators." Recent news stories have included disappearances, sexual assault cases, and even murders associated with MySpace.
- MySpace doesn't pre-screen content and has an insufficient task force for removing inappropriate material. The enormous size of MySpace makes it difficult to track every bad picture or video, so the majority of them stay.
- By having a MySpace account, your child can easily access pages others make public. Many MySpace users keep their posts clean, wholesome, and appropriate. But, many don't. MySpace is full of sleazy content--videos, pictures, and text posted by others may be full of vulgarity, obscenity, profanity, and overt hard-core pornography. MySpace grants your child access to all of this.
How Can I Keep My Child Safe?
- Decide if MySpace will be allowed in your home. MySpace may be a fun way for teens to connect and make friends, but it's not the only way for them to do this. MySpace's notoriety for attracting sexual predators can't be ignored. Consider if the benefits your child will receive from being on MySpace are good enough to justify the risks.
If your child uses MySpace...
- Be sure your child has a private account. MySpace allows users to specify who can see what information a person posts. Your child's page should NOT be available for just anyone to peruse. Click here to read what MySpace has to say about privacy settings.
- Be able to access your child's page. Make your children aware that you can and will look at their pages frequently to keep tabs on what they are posting and what they are seeing on MySpace.
- Emphasize the importance of keeping personal information personal! Many young people fail to see the dangers of posting things like phone numbers, addresses, email addresses, real names, and even one's daily routine. These safety precautions should be taken even if your child has a private account.
- Don't let your child post anything inappropriate. MySpace doesn't pre-screen pictures or videos posted by viewers. This makes it easy for kids to post suggestive or even overtly sexual pictures of themselves or others. This is one of the reasons sexual predators love MySpace--they don't have to talk a teen into posing topless for a webcam because thousands of them are doing so willingly and posting pictures for anyone's view. Don't let your kids be among that number!!!
Where Can I Learn More?
- Watching this Dateline video is a must for parents. Take ten minutes to watch this and familiarize yourself with the dangers of MySpace.
- This web page lists MySpace's safety tips.
- This article explains some of the dangers of MySpace, including easy pornography access and MySpace's affiliation with Playboy.
- This web page lists MySpace's safety tips.
- Though this page is a promotion for a specific filtering software, it does a good job of summing up the top five dangers of MySpace.
