Posted
Jan 22 2008, 08:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
This post comes from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com.
There is one thing about being a teen that every generation experiences. A teen must have a place to hang out, a place to meet and socialize with friends.
For some of us it might have been the malt shop, for others the mall.
For today's teen, it's the Internet, especially MySpace, Facebook and other networking sites. These sites generally offer an excellent way for teens to keep up with their friends while making new friends along with the way.
MySpace has grown to be the behemoth of the social-networking Web sites, thanks in part to its openness that allows teens to be, well, open. But this openness has created a headache for parents, teachers and teens, while raising serious issues of privacy and safety.
Trying to restore its good name -- and to relieve mounting legal pressure from 49 states and the District of Columbia -- MySpace recently agreed to implement new measures to protect young users from sexual predators. Earlier MySpace had deleted the profiles of about 29,000 known sex offenders and predators.
But deleting known predators doesn't solve the problem of young people who inadvertently give away too much information about themselves, or who, like 13-year-old Megan Meier, fall victim to hoaxes or harassment.
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