Dangers of MySpace.com

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Does anyone know anything about this website? I heard it was the largest growing website on the web getting more hits then Ebay & Google. They get 5 million new members per month. It’s a kids website starting at 12-13 years of age.

I heard the end of the Drew Mariani Show talking about the extreme dangers on this website kids are addicted to. I only caught the end of the show.

Does anyone have more information on the site??
 
I personally think myspace.com and facebook.com and a few other “personal page” websites are extremely dangerous for young teens and even college students who may not realize the amount of information they are releasing to the entire world.

Many universities have all of their undergrad students’ full names, majors, home and school addresses as well as their personal email and phone numbers, listed in their student web directory on the university homepage. Some predator who legitimately belongs to Facebook.com due to having attended or graduated college can easily look up members and have access to the information they list there, then use it to go truly identify the student’s whereabouts by checking the university listed, online.

Young kids using myspace.com who list their name, age and school can be easily found if a predator wants to go sit outside their school patiently, day after day, until they see the object of their desire and then follow them home and know exactly where they live. Mentioning activities like soccer practice or drill team, etc., are also all clues that help predators identify potential victims.

The websites are just a personal page that lists things like interests, likes, dislikes, relationship status, age, name, school, etc. Then there is a message board for friends to come write things and for the user to respond. There are also places for picture albums of the user to be viewed.

Personally I think young kids should be definitely kept away! I read yesterday that “Facebooking” is now considered a verb because it is so popular.
 
I’m a college student watching the middle of this phenomonon. Personally, I find it extremely stupid. Everyone I know uses either myspace or facebook, and I’m happily satisfied with instant messenger. I just don’t get the appeal, and instead find people spending way too much time on it.

Josh
 
All this personal info on line just seems creepy to me. You can look at people’s babies, their families, their home lives–why do we need to be putting all this out there for the world to see? I understand sending pictures and letters to friends and family but why should strangers see it? It’s just asking for trouble. Maybe I’m just paranoid, who knows?
 
My 14 year old daughter really enjoys myspace. She stays in contact with friends and relatives all over the country this way. We moved from the east coast to the west coast about 4 years ago, and I think I is great that she can maintain the friendships with the girls of her early childhood. They talk every day.

When she first started to dabble with the internet a few years ago, we did have a talk about the dangers. She has done a really good job at following the guidelines we established. She doesn’t list her last name, her school, her address, or any information that could be used to contact her. Her page can only be viewed by those whose requests she has accepted and she only accepts requests of people she actually knows.

From time to time she’ll say come look at myspace, and I’ll have a look at her page and at her friend’s pages.

I think she is pretty sensible with it.
 
Both my daughter,13, and son, 16, have myspace.com sites. As long as the parents have the right to see it when requested, I believe it can be alright. The problem I have had are with the other girls at my son’s high school. One sent him a picture of herself in a thong! So photos are an issue and it does have to be monitored. But because they are teenagers, I think it is respectful to monitor it with them along. I discuss with them why I want them to delete something. I never go on their space without them there. But at the same time, my decisions are final and they have no right of veto. 😃
 
I think Mypsace might have it’s potential negatives and dangers if one is not careful but it also is quite useful. I am a college student and find it great for keeping in contact with people back home and also I can end up meeting people I haven’t seen in years through myspace after seeing them on there. Also, it is a nice way to let several people know at once about events or activites and although e-mailing and intstan messaging can be used, myspcae is sometimes more convenient. Finally, myspace is nice since we have our own group for catholic students among the university that are part of it so it is nice for that as well.
 
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aurora77:
All this personal info on line just seems creepy to me. You can look at people’s babies, their families, their home lives–why do we need to be putting all this out there for the world to see? I understand sending pictures and letters to friends and family but why should strangers see it? It’s just asking for trouble. Maybe I’m just paranoid, who knows?
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Don’t put it up if it makes you uncomfortable. But many of us do put them up because we communicate with many friends that way. But, no don’t do it if you are worried about it. And you may be right. Another thing not everyone puts the truth in their profile. for one thing the children frequently lie about their ages just to get on. 😃 So we use it just to communicate with those we know.
 
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katewithak:
Don’t put it up if it makes you uncomfortable. But many of us do put them up because we communicate with many friends that way. But, no don’t do it if you are worried about it. And you may be right. Another thing not everyone puts the truth in their profile. for one thing the children frequently lie about their ages just to get on. 😃 So we use it just to communicate with those we know.
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I wasn’t saying that no one should use these sites, but they just seem a little wierd. Why put personal info out there for strangers? Why not just send emails/pictures directly to friends and family instead of placing them on a site that can be accessed by anyone? As long as parents are comfortable with it, they should use it; I just find it bizarre.
 
My son’s friend has a blog on livejournal.com. I occasionally read it because I know this young lady. I am certain her parents don’t read it, because if they did she would probably be put in a convent. The language she (and her friends) use is shocking – and believe me, I’m not that easily shocked. They brag about engaging in all sorts of immoral activities – whether they actually do or if it’s simply false bravado, I don’t know, but it’s pretty graphic stuff. My son has not posted any comments to her journal – he doesn’t think too highly of the whole thing, and for that I am glad.

Her journal includes her photograph, and she is a pretty girl. She would be easily tracked down because she’s posted her phone number on occasion, and she regularly posts her schedule so a predator could find her anywhere including her home, her school, the coffeeshop she frequents, the mall she frequents… Certainly she must know that her journal is accessible to the entire world.

For parents who allow their kids to have such journals, please read them regularly. MONITOR what your children are doing.

'thann
 
I’m a college student who uses facebook (a site where you share information with other students from your college) and I find it very useful for learning basic background information (mutual friends, interests, academic background, etc) about people that I meet in classes or elsewhere. For example, sometimes I need to send a class-related e-mail to someone I’ve talked to but I don’t know their e-mail address – in this case, I can find them on Facebook and confirm that it’s them by looking at the picture or other personal info. It’s also really useful if you meet someone and you’re unsure if you have their name right or if you’re confusing them with someone else.

Regarding MySpace… I don’t think MySpace is good for accomplishing any of these things because MySpace isn’t organized and segregated into schools like Facebook is. It seems like middle and high school students would be far more likely to unknowingly post dangerous information on MySpace than college students would.
 
thann:

Has it occurred to you that maybe you should call this girl’s poor parents and alert them about their child’s inappropriate on-line behavior and dangerous indiscretion?
 
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threej_lc:
I’m a college student watching the middle of this phenomonon. Personally,** I find it extremely stupid**. Everyone I know uses either myspace or facebook, and I’m happily satisfied with instant messenger. I just don’t get the appeal, and instead find people spending way too much time on it.

Josh
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Hey, thanks a lot. Personally, I dont’ think it’s extremely stupid because I have gotten back in contact with a lot of people I went to high school with, and then some. I even found the guy I went with to my senior homecoming. I’m on there all the time because I can keep up with what is going on in their lives. That’s a luxury I could have never had in IM. Don’t you think that “extremely stupid” is a little dramatic?
 
I have a myspace profile and use it to talk with my friends in California and all over the US. ONLY my friends can view my profile pictures and my topics on my stie. these are ppl I have choosen and I love it . I dont think I will let my kids (when we have them) on there b/c it is too grahpic for a 12 year old. But maybe when they are older and understand better. Like at least 14 matbe even 16. I dont have my full name or anything personal on my site most of the my friends already know that info and if they want it I will talk with them in a private email. If you have guidlines then it can be a good thing. Most of all ppl need to be careful about their perosnal info and if they dont then that is where the real dangers lie.
 
My 13 is on my space but we monitor her space. My husband even got a space just to figure out how it works. They keep in touch with family members. Just like anything else proceed with caution.
 
Especially for the young, I would urge caution with this site. However, as someone who does not know many “real world” Catholics, and my RCIA class is nice, but as a group we are not that connected. On myspace I have found a good Catholic Bible study group, and a group for those in RCIA or considering it. These groups have helped me feel more connected to the Church, and have also helped nurture my faith. And these are people I would not have met otherwise.

In other words, parents, watch out for your children, and do not be afraid to check it out for yourself if you are not sure. And the amount of information you display is up to you. All I have is my age, city and state, with a picture of a lion on my profile (in tribute to my saint for this year, St. Mark).
 
Is it true that colleges look at myspace accounts to see what potential students are like? hmmm… one of the girls I tutor set up an account for me, but I rarely ever look at it… however, I do have a facebook account and do keep in touch with my old friends… oh well… If you are careful and disrcete, you should have no problems! Anyway, a bunch of my friends’ mothers are on myspace too and have fun just as much as the kids… whatever!? So it cannot be all that bad!–right?

Laura 😛
 
whatismyipaddress.com/staticpages/index.php/findme

take a few neons to check what information your ip address is giving out to others.

My inlaws changed ISPs because their old one associated their home address, phone number, number of children, names and ages of children, etc., with their ip address online. That old ISP has changed their policy after losing a lot of customers.
 
myspace.com/misc/safetytips.html
Facebook is growing as a law enforcement tool, particularly at colleges and universities, where administrators and police use it to keep tabs on students’ misbehavior (inevitably followed by retaliatory pranks). MySpace is in on the act now, too, after police near Boston used it to track down some graffiti artists. The kids – who maybe got exposed to too many fumes – had helpfully uploaded pictures of their work and their tags to the site in a group called “Graffiti Artists”. MySpace has taken the blame before for stupid kids, but it sounds like these mental giants figured out how to get caught all on their own.
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techdirt.com/articles/20060111/1525224_F.shtml

netfamilynews.org/nl050902.html

google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=tracking+people+using+myspace
 
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