Enter MySpace With Caution
By Brittney Winn in the Hard News Café
November 8, 2006 | Many MySpace members aren't aware of who is looking at their profiles and often divulge personal information they believe is only being viewed by their friends.
Not only are users releasing personal information such as their age and gender, they're also posting their phone numbers, home addresses, class schedules and work locations that can aid predators who are trying to track them. "Why Parents Must Mind MySpace," by NBC news claims MySPace is a fantasy world for some users.
"It's a world where the kids next door can play any role they want," the article stated. "They may not realize everyone with internet access, including sexual predators, may see the pictures and personal information they post."
In BusinessWeek magazine's "Protecting Your Kids from Cyber-Predators" states MySpace created an algorithm last spring that identified underage users and resulted in the elimination of 330,000 profiles. Although MySpace doesn't allow users younger than 14 to set up an account, young teens are still finding ways to create profiles by lying.
Utah State University student, Hilary Caldwell, said she thinks MySpace is very deceiving. "You really don't know if someone is who they say they are," she said. "I do, however, think it's a good way to stay in touch with old friends. And for some people it's a great way to meet other people."
Tracy Doyle of the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Department agrees that MySpace can be a good way for people to interact with each other, but it can also be very dangerous.
"I think it's a good way for teenage kids to meet other teenage kids across the country, but there are also negative aspects such as predators," Doyle said. Predators are typically male and range between the ages of 20-40, and "in the past 5 years predators have gotten older," he said.
Student Kaylene Pace is strongly against MySpace due to the negative things she's heard about it.
"I heard on the radio that a lot of teen abductions were due to sites like MySpace," Pace said. Caldwell and Pace both said they would never allow their children to have a MySpace account of their own.
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