Stay safe on Myspace

Social networking websites have become a virtual playground for children, and especially so for teenagers.

Sites such as Myspace and Bebo provide a place where people of all ages can meet and exchange messages and photos.

Young and old alike can mix and each user’s profile is available to all, although there are some restrictions for youngsters.

The majority of teens spend their time on such sites exchanging messages and photos or swapping gossip about their favourite bands.

A rash of recent reports has cast doubt on the safety of youngsters using social networking sites. In this feature, we will provide parents and guardians with a guide to how the sites work and the best ways to let teens continue to enjoy these fun websites in safety.

Myspace.com is currently one of the most popular online social networking services; according to internet research company Comscore, the site currently has 150 million registered users, of whom 21 million are under 18 years of age.

The secret of its popularity lies in the way Myspace works. It’s a social networking website that displays people’s profiles – a summary of information about that person, usually with a photograph and headline that users compose to encourage other members to view their profile. It will also contain information about and links to their personal blog, music choices, fashion likes and dislikes and other interests.

Above all the site encourages interaction with other members with similar interests through comments left on a guestbook or via emails sent through the site’s internal email system.

Myspace’s regulations do not allow children under the age of 13 to set up an account and will only show partial profiles (gender, age and city) of 14 and 15-year-olds, unless the viewer is already on their list of friends.

However, problems have arisen in the past when people create fake identities; for example, some children claim to be older when registering so they can bypass restrictions imposed by the website, while adult predators can adopt the identity of someone much younger.

An adult researcher at the consumer magazine Which? recently set up an account posing as a 14-year-old. They were not asked to provide proof of age or identity, showing there is no way of proving ‘teenagers’ are really who they say they are on Myspace.

To address parental fears over online safety, the Home Office set up the Child Exploitation Online Protection (CEOP) website, which has undertaken research into social networking websites and worked with both Myspace and Bebo. A representative said while the risk of adult predators contacting children was relatively small, children, parents and guardians should be vigilant.

There are various ways in which parents can help to keep teens safe on social networking sites. Some involve technology that can block, regulate or monitor access. This can be useful, but the first step should be to make sure youngsters understand the potential risks, and that means having an open discussion about the use of social networking sites.