Quest 8 - Social Networking

It was interesting viewing all of the suggested "social networking" sites listed. I was glad to see and read such helpful information as the articles: "Social Networking Sites: Safety Tips for tweens and teens; "Social Networking Websites Review" ; and "How to Talk to Young People about Socializing Safely Online". It's good information out there. I just really wish parents would spend time discussing these things with their children everyday. I see children on MySpace.com all of the time. Some of them are not of age to be on this site but they have been assisted by an older teenage brother or sister in getting an account. What can we do as librarians? It really comes down to the parents being involved in what their children are doing. I've even known of a situation where some children had access to their adult aunt's account on MySpace and they would come into the library and access her account on the Internet and communicate with people. She was fully aware. I still scratch my head about that one. I was really glad to be made aware of websites like wiredsafety.org, onguardonline.gov, and getnetwise.org. I am personally aware of a situation where someone was the victim of an internet predator that they encountered on a social networking site. This person was a public figure in the community so a lot of their personal information was available (listed numbers in phonebooks, they wore a nametag at work,etc.). They worked in a public facility where they could be heard answering the phones and giving their name. They ventured onto a social networking site, posted pictures of themselves and then fell victim to someone who uploaded the person's pictures and started created "bogus" accounts with this persons image on it. It was a terrifying situation. I know that the person contacted the Member Services of this site by email and then later by letter as the situation escalated. To this day I don't know if it was ever fully resolved. In reading these safety tips, I can see how important it is the get this information in the hands of people. Perhaps we need to post flyers in our computer areas with general information and safety tips. I am leery of these kinds of sites and I encourage people to be very careful if they are considering joining the sites. Bebo and Friendster seemed international in scope. I liked the look and friendliness of Facebook and MySpace.com better. They all seem like a site that mixes what you can find on youtube, online personals, and Amazon.com into one what with the music, photos, profiles, reviews and videos you can find. If I were to join one, I'd be more inclined to join Facebook or MySpace. I really liked the features offered in Facebook under privacy settings like "block people" and "limited profile". It's really set up for you to be able to protect your identity and share as "little" or as "more" of yourself as you decide.