social networking

"What is Social Networking?"

A social network service is social software specifically focused on the building and verifying of online social networks for whatever purpose. Many social networking services are also blog hosting services. As of 2005, there are over three hundred known social networking web sites. MySpace, Facebook and Friendster are some examples. (www.wikipedia.org)

People use social networking sites to chat with each other or connecting with others around the world with similar interests. Children often use it is as a status marker. The more contacts the child has the higher the status. Many kids post pictures of themselves or family, age, birthdates, where they live, and other personal information that can help a predator locate them. Sometimes this information can be posted with out even realizing you are. Predators can locate children very easily through these accounts. We are not saying that social networking is all bad. What we want to get across is the knowledge of how to protect yourself. Check out the cyber crime page to see some of the statistics that have been traced through these types of sites.

Please look at the parent guide to get more information on how to protect your children from revealing too much information on their social networking sites. Parents should have more control and know exactly what they child is posting on their sites. Below are some safety tips from the Federal Trade Commission. These tips can be helpful when you are creating your own account on any social networking site.

View ABC News Broadcast on Teens and Social Networking - aired 1/8/2007

List of social networking sites:

My Space (www.myspace.com)	Sconex (www.sconex.com)
Friendster (www.friendster.com)	eSpintheBottle (www.espinthebottle.com)
Xanga (www.xanga.com)	Loopt (www.loopt.com) - cell phones
Yahoo! 360º (360.yahoo.com)	Passado (www.passado.com)

More can be found at wikipedia.org

What Employers and Colleges Say.....

Experts to students: Watch what you post online. Information on sites such as MySpace.com could come back to haunt users. (eSchool News March 1, 2006)

Many Employers hire companies to conduct background checks, but "Googling" job applicants serves as an additional hiring tool (Charles Fleischer, an employment lawyer and author of The Complete Hiring and Firing Handbook)

David Hawkins, director of public policy for the National Association for College Admissions Counseling commented on the use of MySpace by college admissions people. Hawkins said, "....the potential for a student to trip himself up [during the admissions process] is certainly greater than it was even 10 years ago."

(Information from Sidwell Friends School Internet Safety Presentation)

Your Safety’s at Stake
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suggests these tips for socializing safely online:

Think about how different sites work before deciding to join a site. Some sites will allow only a defined community of users to access posted content; others allow anyone and everyone to view postings..

Think about keeping some control over the information you post. Consider restricting access to your page to a select group of people, for example, your friends from school, your club, your team, your community groups, or your family

Keep your information to yourself. Don’t post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or bank and credit card account numbers — and don’t post other people’s information, either.

Be cautious about posting information that could be used to identify you or locate you offline. This could include the name of your school, sports team, clubs, and where you work or hang out.

Make sure your screen name doesn’t say too much about you. Don’t use your name, your age, or your hometown. Even if you think your screen name makes you anonymous, it doesn’t take a genius to combine clues to figure out who you are and where you can be found.

Post only information that you are comfortable with others seeing — and knowing — about you. Many people can see your page, including your parents, your teachers, the police, the college you might want to apply to next year, or the job you might want to apply for in five years.

Remember that once you post information online, you can’t take it back. Even if you delete the information from a site, older versions exist on other people’s computers.

Consider not posting your photo. It can be altered and broadcast in ways you may not be happy about. If you do post one, ask yourself whether it’s one your mom would display in the living room.

Flirting with strangers online could have serious consequences. Because some people lie about who they really are, you never really know who you’re dealing with.

Be wary if a new online friend wants to meet you in person. Before you decide to meet someone, do your research: Ask whether any of your friends know the person, and see what background you can dig up through online search engines. If you decide to meet them, be smart about it: Meet in a public place, during the day, with friends you trust. Tell an adult or a responsible sibling where you’re going, and when you expect to be back.

Trust your gut if you have suspicions. If you feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, tell an adult you trust and report it to the police and the social networking site. You could end up preventing someone else from becoming a victim.

Other links to information on how to protect yourself on social networking sites: