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Dangers of Social networking sites..

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Has anyone read the article on the dangers of social networking sites?
If not You can read it here

What do you think of this...
are we doing enough to protect children from bullys and online predators?
If not what do you think we COULD do to help protect them?..


I apologies if there is already a thread like this...

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Social networking sites are not dangerous.

    Retarded children, and retarded parents who a) don't monitor their children's usage and b) sell the story to the fucking Sun, are dangerous.

    I've met people off social networking sites, or bulletin boards. I might even have had sex with some of them. And I'm not yet buried under a patio.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    maybe a bit of a tangeant..sorry.

    I thought I had set everything on my facebook profile to private not realising that with the new changes my photo albums were now public.

    It's really annoying because now you have to go through all of your albums and set each one individually to 'Just Friends'. So now I spontaneously click the button on my profile 'View As' just to check facebook haven't messed with my privacy settings again. Grr
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    They're not dangerous. There's things you can do to make them safe.
    Like people moan about tumblr and all the anon hate, but there's the option to turn that off, so in all honesty it's the person's fault as they're in a way putting themselves in danger, no sympathy what-so-ever.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Adding over 4,000 people as friends when they are not your friends is the problem, not social networking.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Defo. And if you've seen 'Don't blame Facebook', it just shows how careless people are.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Isn't this just the next generation's stranger danger? Only now the shadowy stranger isn't trying to show you his puppies, he's all up in your Facebook with his friend requests.

    What we can do is the same thing we did back then. Teach our kids what is ok, what's not ok and how to stay safe. Make them web smart. Knowledge is power!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Social networking isn't dangerous, it's lack of common sense and teenagers wanting to look popular.
    It's simple - set most things, if not everything to private, only add who you know and do regular culls of people you don't really talk to. If you add someone out of politeness then just set them as an acquaintance and put your settings so they can only see certain photos etc. I don't even let mine see most of my statuses. And most of all, don't post anything stupid or compromise your safety. It's not hard but people just seem to lack the common sense
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Emmalee wrote: »
    What do you think of this...
    are we doing enough to protect children from bullys and online predators?
    If not what do you think we COULD do to help protect them?..


    ...

    I spend a lot of time in schools trying to educate kids on how to stay safe online (in fact I've got a load of sessions today). The kids who listen, wouldn't have done anything stupid in the first place, the kids who don't listen? They're the ones who think (despite what I tell them) that having thousands of friends who you've never met and exchanging postal addresses and telephone numbers is an acceptable activity.

    What should be happening is that social network sites should have an enforceable age verification scheme and that parents should take far more notice of what their child is doing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I believe that social networking sites are a potential hazard when not used properly. Children should be monitored, or even deterred from using sites like Facebook. Chat rooms aren't always filled with sexual predators but there is never any guarantee that there isn't one waiting. Social networking and the increase in popularity and usage among teens and even some adults has definitely made bullying more prevalent. The internet in general is like standing in the middle of a busy city - anything can happen, but if you're careful and take the right precautions then chances are you can enjoy the fruits of life. Children who find themselves in harmful company or situations aren't 'retarded', but often either very misinformed or vulnerable.
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