Can MySpace lift the curse?

[shesulsa]

Building a safer MySpace

Weeks into his tenure as safety czar of social network MySpace, Hemanshu Nigam already had his hands full. MySpace had been slapped with a $30 million lawsuit concerning a 14-year-old Texas girl who said she was assaulted by a predator she met on MySpace. Lawmakers were lobbying to have social networks banned from schools and libraries.

Now, weeks before Nigam's first anniversary as MySpace chief security officer, the pressure is even greater. News Corp.'s rapidly growing social network now faces four new lawsuits from the same Texas law firm, Barry & Loewy, that sued MySpace last June.


Nigam's efforts to bolster security at the social network are well under way. On Jan. 23, he announced a partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to use MySpace to disseminate word of child abductions through the Amber Alert system, named after a girl who was abducted and killed in 1996. He also said the site will implement an e-mail verification system and an "over/under" privacy tool that prevents contact in either direction between users above the age of 18 with younger users.

I've seriously considered terminating my account with MySpace because of its ease of access to potential victims.

Your thoughts on this?

 

[Ping898]

While MySpace isn't perfect and is an open ground for abuse, I think a lot of the blame needs to rest on the parents of these kids too, not just MySpace. How the heck are they being given such freedom at to have the ability to meet these predators because it seems like these predators don't just live next door? Why aren't these parents educating their kids about the dangers of revealing too much information online? Why aren't these parents watching over their kids shoulders or installing software to track where their kids go online and who they talk to?
I think it is good that MySpace is implementing all these new efforts, and I hope they continue to improve, but I don't think they should be blamed or at least recieve full blame for the all the crimes that have happened because of it...It just seems to me that people are looking for someone to blame and MySpace is an easy target...

 

[tradrockrat]

The internet is a tool - it's up to us to educate our children on how to use it safely. I wouldn't let my child use a table saw without instruction and supervision - the internet is no different.(Of course I don't have kids...)

 

[rutherford]

My thought is that educating children about the risks of online activity and taking an interest in their lives is the solution, and that the network isn't to blame.

 

[Carol]

Why aren't they going after Xanga, BlogSpot, TagWorld...?

Oh...right...I forgot. MySpace has the deepest pockets.

I had a chat with my old Kenpo teacher once when she mentioned her teenage daughter was on MySpace. She said that her daughter was very wise about how she handled herself at keeping her profile private, not letting anyone on her friends list that wasn't her friend IRL...

MySpace isn't the problem here. Its the parents that let kids keep computers in their bedrooms where they can go all over the internet unsupervised. I guarantee you that strangers on MySpace is not the only thing they are getting in to.

 

[Kreth]

I wasn't a big fan until my band started using MySpace, but it seems that online communities are the "next big thing" that's endangering our children. Not long ago, it was video games, before that, it was music. Maybe some of these parents should stop looking for a scapegoat, get off their asses, and find out what's going on in their children's lives.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

matches can cause fires if your child doesn't learn how to use them responsibly.

and yes, some law firm has undoubtedly sued a match company.

 

[Drac]

I have hear horror stories from my buddies NONE I can repeat as they are still on going investigations..Get rid of it Shesusa...

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I have hear horror stories from my buddies NONE I can repeat as they are still on going investigations..Get rid of it Shesusa...

While I think it is ultimately up to the parent's to educated and supervise their kid's I am not a fan of myspace at all. It is just not a well done internet community and seems to be run pretty poorly at this point.

Having said that hopefully they start taking proper precautions to protect the younger people.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

If you are thinking about terminating your Myspace account, then you should terminate your account here at MT. Both are the same thing. It is up to the user to choose not to post their name, info, address, or phone number. It is not Myspace's responsibility.
Also, anyone can go to facebook, MartialTalk, Xanga, Gecotities, or any site that allows you to post things and post personal info. It always boils down to common sense.

Sidenote: very little of the population has common sense, so Myspace will be punished because most of its users are idiots.

AoG

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

While MySpace isn't perfect and is an open ground for abuse, I think a lot of the blame needs to rest on the parents of these kids too, not just MySpace. How the heck are they being given such freedom at to have the ability to meet these predators because it seems like these predators don't just live next door? Why aren't these parents educating their kids about the dangers of revealing too much information online? Why aren't these parents watching over their kids shoulders or installing software to track where their kids go online and who they talk to?
I think it is good that MySpace is implementing all these new efforts, and I hope they continue to improve, but I don't think they should be blamed or at least recieve full blame for the all the crimes that have happened because of it...It just seems to me that people are looking for someone to blame and MySpace is an easy target...

I was going to respond but you did it for me. THanks!

 

[terryl965]

I know as a parent my childern better never be on that site ever, there are to many valuables that no-one really knows about with are the pedators around better safe than sorry.

 

[evenflow1121]

I do agree that a lot of the blame sits on the parents for lack of supervision, but in our society very few will blame the parents for obvious reasons.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I know as a parent my childern better never be on that site ever, there are to many valuables that no-one really knows about with are the pedators around better safe than sorry.

Smart thinking Terry.

 

[Drac]

I am upset that my Neice is on it, but she's 18...My buddies busted a 50 something year old school teacher in Fla that was going to meet a little honey he met on MySpace..The girl became suspicious of the things he posted and alerted the locals..He had a bottle of wine, some Vaium, a sexy nightie and a camera..

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I am upset that my Neice is on it, but she's 18...My buddies busted a 50 something year old school teacher in Fla that was going to meet a little honey he met on MySpace..The girl became suspicious of the things he posted and alerted the locals..He had a bottle of wine, some Vaium, a sexy nightie and a camera..

Hey Drac, some friends of mine work for the State and they have some horrible stories to tell.

 

[Drac]

Hey Drac, some friends of mine work for the State and they have some horrible stories to tell.

That's the only one I can tell...

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

That's the only one I can tell...

Yep the ones I have heard are not really retellable as well.

 

[Drac]

Yep the ones I have heard are not really retellable as well.

Yes....There are SICk people out there...

 

[Infinite]

I could tell stories... in fact for once we are on my home ground yay!

There are a lot of factors to take into account about Myspace. The first of which is that it was designed not for children but for bands. Bands just happen to have young fans and the young people took it over.

As it was never designed for what it is doing some of the controls to protect the children come in the form of catchup. I know the security guys at Myspace they are top notch people and do a great deal to protect everyone there not just the kids.

Why is myspace dangerious? People put out to much info is it any more dangerious than oh say Yahoo profiles? Nope not in the least both are mined constantly by preditors. MSN is not immune and neither is gmail or any other community. Myspace just happens to have cought parents by surprise and they didn't monitor their kids.

Parents are the only ones that can show kids there is risk. They haven't cought up to the digital age so its not common practice. My cousin had his child on myspace but not before he asked me to install monitoring software. Once he had it he talked to his child a great deal about the things he was saying and doing. It was amazing to me too watch a ten year old speak like a rap mogul to his friends about the hoes in his class.

For parents danger exists in what you do not control/know. You can easily let your child deal on myspace if they understand the risk. They are no more at risk going to school than on myspace. If you think for a second child molestors don't sit outside school yards I think some of the LEO's here could correct that assumption.

Does Myspace have some responsibility to clearly help people navigate this threat? Yes they do and they have if you read their guides and FAQ's they tell you what not to do too be safe. People just pick on myspace because it was media friendly. If you will think back briefly oh about 5 years ago this same argument for the profiles on yahoo and ICQ. People were up in arms about the children that fell prey to adults on those systems the same way as they do on myspace.

The only difference? Children still seem to flock to myspace so its just more convient for the predators.

Those knee jerk reactions of I wouldn't let my kid on there. Are in fact worse than letting them experience it in a safe way. I'm not advocating turning your kids loose on Myspace but the same dangers they face there they face anywhere online.

Child Online Safety,

Monitor
Assess
Educate
Monitor
etc...

--Infy