I just caught this story on techcrunch, my default source for all breaking news on techie stuff. Of course it's also on traditional news sources too, like the AP and Reuters.
MySpace just changed/upgraded several policies for younger teens using their site to try to protect them from contact with sexual predators and any other adults they don't know. Some of the new policies are aimed at giving parents more control, some are aimed at changing the visibility of younger teens' profiles and some are simply upgrading the response time for complaints.
It will be interesting to see how teens themselves respond to the policy changes. Will they mind having a separate high school section? Many teens already lie about their age to use the site, I wonder how these changes will affect that sort of behavior.
The teens I know on MySpace are pretty careful about the way they use it, using fictional locations and fictional names and posting pictures with multiple people in them so it's hard to tell who they are unless you know them. They've figured out the security settings for the most part but they still get unwanted messages from people sometimes (I do too, not necessarily age inappropriate people or "obscene" messages, just unwanted contact). I'm not sure how much their parents understand about the way they use the website but I know they share tips among their friends.
It seems like most of this legislation/tutoring stuff tends to come from a top-down perspective, but I wonder how much they try to take advantage of the "horizontal" relationships to spread information about the site and the best security tips. Besides updates from Tom, which are kind of annoying. Also I wonder how the new limitations about adult/teen interactions will affect libraries trying to make themselves available on MySpace. I don't have any experience with institutional use of MySpace- my younger sister got me to add a profile but I barely use it since facebook took off. Anyone else have more to add on that front?
[From Carol: There's even more about the MySpace story available at cNet.]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
In the wake of the recent events at NIU, the value of Facebook and MySpace has taken on even greater importance. As I watched the events unfold on the news on Thursday, I mourned along with the rest of the country that another school shooting had occurred.
Within just a few hours of the violence, students were posting their thoughts on both MySpace and Facebook. Have these sites now become coping devices? It would seem so. Obviously, this entire horrendous event so traumatized students that many expressed their anguish over the loss of their peers, the sadness for the victims, and their joy at being spared. Some even used their postings as a way to let friends and family know they were ok since the cell towers were jammed with so many calls.
Additionally, I was surprised to see one TV station mention and show that afternoon some of the postings from Facebook and MySpace. Perhaps the TV newspeople recognize how very powerful these "social networking" sites have become or perhaps this was a way to get immediate responses from the situation since the other traditional avenues were blocked or unable to be used. Either way, the postings graphically told the fear, frustration, and gratitude that the students felt over the tragic situation.
Post a Comment