Website Review: Facebook

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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that privacy functions should be stressed when it comes to this very popular social networking site (which requires that kids to be 13 to join). While members have many options for controlling their profiles -- who can see them, how much they can see, what they can see, and so forth -- there are still ways for the determined to find someone. But you can't easily browse through profiles unless you know the person (or unless the person is one of the very few who make their profiles completely public). Items from the mini news feed (which tracks users' every move and posts it to their friends) can be deleted, and Beacon (which tracks purchases made by users on other sites and sends alerts to their friends) can both be turned off. As with any loosely-regulated social networking site, inappropriate information (think words and photos) often appears in personal profiles. Photos of kids drinking, etc. abound. Also, users have to email the company to delete their profiles, although there are plans to create a button that will do it for you. There are thousands of applications that users can put on their profile (games, virtual gifts) and those that don't meet certain privacy requirements will be banned. A chat function was launched in early April 2008.

Families can talk about Internet safety with social networking sites and how nothing is private on the Internet. What information should you include in your profile, and what should you leave out besides identifying information? How do you know if you can trust someone enough to make them a "friend" so they have access to your private information?

FACEBOOK.COM started as a very exclusive club limited to college kids; now, the social site is open to all (though users must be at least 13 years old to join). Once a member, you can choose to join one or more "networks" -- a constellation of people at your school, your job, or in your region. When you join a network, others in that network can read your profile if you want them to. You can join "groups" that form around a common interest, like a band or a hobby. Users create profiles of themselves: interests, schools attended, political views, and more. You can choose to let only your friends (or certain friends) see your profile, allow only people in your networks to view it, or opt to have no limits at all. Users post photos to their online albums, send messages to one another, scribble notes on each other's "walls," and send "gifts" (icons that cost $1 after the first free one). There's also "The Marketplace," which allows members to post and search classifieds. An IM function is coming soon.

This is a great place for keeping in touch with friends and making new ones. As with any social networking site, though, inappropriate information (think words and photos) can appear in personal profiles. The good news is that you can't browse through profiles unless you know the person -- or unless the person is one of the very few who make his or her profile completely public.