MySpace is a hugely successful and popular social networking website that caters to hundreds of thousands of users on a daily basis. Most popular amongst the student population, there have been growing concerns from psychological experts and parents alike regarding the perceived problems of Myspace use among impressionable kids. The main concern revolves around the possibility of Myspace being used by sexual predators on the internet due to the lax security measures at the website. Indeed, the website can be considered to have almost nonexistent security as it encourages the users to post as much personal information as they wish through the boards and blogs, site features that are easily accessible to those with predatory instincts. The reality of the situation is that Myspace has encouraged more creativity and socialization among its users due to its innovative software usage concepts. However, just like anything done in excess, too much personal information on any MySpace account can also prove to have adverse effects. In fact, according to journalist Sue K. Ellen, one can view my space in terms of necessary medication for patients with the good results outweighing the bad. She indicates that:
In the medical field, if the positive benefits outweigh the negative effects, medicine is used. Otherwise, the medicine is canceled, such as the medication known as Vioxx. Why do I mention this? Well, MySpace works the same way. It’s a great tool, but if it’s going to put you and your loved ones in danger, then the negative effects outweigh the benefits, leading to the conclusion that MySpace is a very dangerous place for children and teenagers to be dwelling in, and therefore must be approached at an appropriate, and serious manner.
According to Larry D. Rosen, Ph.D. although 83% of parents are concerned with their teen’s use of MySpace exposing them to sexual predators, parents numbering about 75% were also concerned about the perceived social isolation of their child due to the virtual nature of the friendships they entered into. There is indeed something disconcerting about not having any face-to-face encounters with these people since the internet allows users to actually create believable facades that could prove to be detrimental to other parties once taken into the real world.
However, these concerns do not seem to outweigh the benefits that most users derive from the social site. As it continues to help people remain in touch in an ever increasingly busy world of the 21st century, more and more social circles and families who are divided by borders and time differences will find it necessary to use the online blog to keep abreast of each other’s activities. For the youth of today, this is the best way for them to stay in touch with each other without having to share physical proximity and time zones. Thereby offering a variation on the view of active social life in the 21st century. Melissa Colin was interviewed by Heather Vale for the article “My Space, Not Your Space” and she had this to say about the connectivity offered by the website:
I think Myspace is really great. I went camping one summer and a lot of my friends from there had Myspace. Now I talk to them all the time and Myspace is a great way to keep in touch with people
Education-wise, MySpace also helps the students to bridge any information gaps they may be experiencing in school as they discuss on the various forums available that allow them to safely gain exposure to a diverse wealth of information and ideas. It allows the users to widen their understanding of various topics while also motivating them to perhaps break out and try other things in life.
The most important thing a parent or child has to remember is that any internet-based world will always come with possible negative and positive effects. As such, it is important to learn how to safely use social networking site while exposing oneself to as little danger as possible. One can no longer eliminate the use of the internet from daily life, however, one must do his best to protect himself from the various vulnerabilities one is placed under in places like MySpace.
Personal protection systems would include offering as little personal information as possible on the profile page, self-screening your blog content in order to tell your visitors about your life without telling them everything about it. Most importantly, the user must learn that it is possible to block anybody who makes you feel uncomfortable with the messages or pictures being left on your page.
The idea of anonymity on the internet is the bane of internet users. Most parents fear that the social network leaves all profiles unchecked and exposes their kids to the possibility of being sexually attacked by the people they met through the internet whom they eventually go to meet in person. This is a horror story that, as proven by newspaper reports, has become a horrifying reality for some users. MySpace has no way to check and verify the personal information presented by their users and they have constantly been called upon to tighten their security and screening procedures due to this flaw in their system. The company has since implemented several security measures to help curb the predatory practice of older, psychologically imbalanced users of their site. However, the company can only do so much security checking and tightening, the actual responsibility of protecting the child lays upon the parents who must educate their children about the dangers of social networking and actually take the time out of their busy schedules to visit the MySpace page of their children and help them identify potential threats in order to block the person from further contact. This is one way that some psychologists also see MySpace as helping strengthen the parent-child bond into a new sort of friendship and bringing in a totally new level of trust between the two often misunderstood and warring family members.
Overall, MySpace, just like the rest of the internet, is like Chicago during prohibition time. There are a lot of underground dangers beneath the seemingly socially perfect veneer of MySpace. Nobody can protect the user from all the dangers on a 24/7 basis but, the users themselves can choose to limit their dangerous exposure on the aforementioned social networking site. After all, the site is meant to help people make friends, so cautious socialization is definitely the order of the day at such an open use website.
References
- “Is MySpace Good For Society? A Freakonomics Quorum“. The New York Times. 2008. Web.
- Rosen, Larry. PhD. “Adolescents In MySpace: Identity Formation, Friendship, And Sexual Predators”. California State University. June 2006.
- “The Dangers Of MySpace: Information Every Parent Should Be Aware Of“. Associated Content. 2007. Web.
- Vale, Heather. “MySpace, Not Your Space”. Perl World Youth News. 2006.