Social Networking and Teen Safety
Although we rightly worry about our teenagers’ online safety, a new study done by Pew Internet & American Life Project may provide us with a little hope. Apparently, many teenagers who frequent social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook omit sensitive information in their profiles, such as their last names, addresses and phone numbers.
The study, titled Teens, Privacy and Online Social Networks was conducted by Pew between Oct.23-Nov.19, 2006. It surveyed 935 teens, ages 12-17. The following are the things teens said they revealed about themselves in online profiles:
First name: 82%
Photo of themselves: 79%
Photos of friends: 66%
Name of their city or town: 61%
Name of their school: 49%
Instant message screen name: 40%
E-mail address: 29%
Last name: 29%
First and last name: 11%
Cellphone number: 2%
Many teens also use fake online names and other false details, at least partly to protect themselves from online predators. More than half of American teens have posted online profiles. About two-thirds of these said they use built-in controls or take other steps to restrict who can see their personal profile information.
I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but I’m not that impressed with those numbers. It’s fairly easy to use any information to find out a person’s identity and other personal information. And those numbers still leave far too many teens who don’t take precautions to protect themselves.
Do you feel your teens use safeguards to protect themselves online? What do you do, as a parent, to help your teens protect themselves on social networking sites?
MySpace, Facebook, social networking, online safety, online profiles, Pew Internet & American Life Project, internet, internet safety, teen safety, parenting teens, parenting teenagers
April 23rd, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Thankfully, my teens don’t blog yet. However, I often wonder if I am putting my family at risk because I blog. I try to remember not to put too much identifying information in my posts, but I worry I might slip up without thinking- like mentioning my childs school or where they take lessons, etc.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:34 am
I know what you mean. Although I do mention my daughter’s first name, our last names are not the same. I’ve also had to catch myself at mentioning her school or even our local school system at times. It can be difficult not to mention things which are so much a part of your daily life!
April 27th, 2007 at 10:08 am
I agree, as a blogger I am also concerned personally about information that’s out there about me online. If you read closely you can figure out a lot about me - though I’m always careful to avoid any details.
Really makes you think twice about what teens do - some of the MySpace and Facebook profiles I see range from foolish to totally inappropriate - and many parents have no idea! Have you guys seen the NetSmartz411 site? It gives a great run down on all those sites, and you can write in your own personal questions. I actually sent it to my sister because she has kids that are starting to get more into it. Your kids (and you!) can never be TOO educated.