MySpace
For
teens, MySpace is a popular online hangout because the site
makes it easy for them to express themselves and keep in touch
with their friends. *As a parent, please consider the following
guidelines to help your children make safe decisions about using
online communities.
Click
here for MySpace's Safety tips page.
-
Talk to
your kids
about why they use MySpace, how they communicate with others
and how they represent themselves on MySpace.
-
Kids
shouldn't lie about how old they are.
MySpace members must be 14 years of age or older.
We take
extra precautions to protect our younger members and we are
not able to do so if they do not identify themselves as such.
MySpace will delete users whom we find to be younger than 14,
or those misrepresenting their age.
-
MySpace is a public space.
Members
shouldn't post anything they wouldn't want the world to know
(e.g., phone number, address, IM screen name, or specific
whereabouts). Tell your children they should avoid posting
anything that would make it easy for a stranger to find them,
such as their local hangouts.
-
Remind them
not
to post anything that could embarrass them later or expose
them to danger.
Although
MySpace is public, teens sometimes think that adults can't see
what they post. Tell them that they shouldn't post photos or
info they wouldn't want adults to see.
-
People
aren't always who they say they are.
Ask your children to be careful about adding strangers to
their friends list.
It's fun to connect with new MySpace friends from all over the
world, but members should be cautious when communicating with
people they don't know. They should talk to you if they want
to meet an online friend in person, and if you think it's
safe, any meeting should take place in public and with friends
or a trusted adult present.
-
Harassment, hate speech and inappropriate content should be
reported.
If your
kids encounter inappropriate behavior, let them know that they
can let you know, or they should report it to MySpace or the
authorities.
Don’t get
hooked by a phishing scam.
Phishing is a method used by fraudsters to try to get your
personal information, such as your username and password, by
pretending to be a site you trust.
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