Website Review: MySpace.com
Rated by 1 member
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this site is the center of many
teens' communication and social worlds. Users post whatever
they want on their pages so a parent should check out their
kids' entries. The site doesn't hold itself accountable for
anything that appears on it, and in return, just about anything
goes -- lots of vulgar language, discussion of adult topics,
videos and photos, links to outside sources, and other content
that is not for young kids or tweens. Privacy controls are a
must since sexual predators can use the site for victims;
however, privacy controls allow you to make your site private
(you can have only your "friends" IM you and you can block
certain people). Because of its high profile, new safety
features are always being applied (software that scans instant
messages for any inappropriate material, for example). That
said, this site is still not appropriate for young teens.
Families can talk about Internet safety with social networking sites. Our Top Ten Tips for Kids for Viral Media is a great resource, but these questions should get the conversation started: What information should you include in your profile? What should you leave out? How do you know if you can trust someone enough to make them a "friend" so they have access to your private information? What can do you do if you feel like someone is bullying you or wants to meet you in person?
Common Sense Media Review
While this MYSPACE.COM is one of the most visited sites on
the Internet, parents shouldn't let their younger teens explore
it. Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to keep your
older teen off it but at the least you can do is have a frank
discussion about the dangers of social networking. That said,
not everything about the site is shady. For example, many kids
use it as a convenient spot to distribute their digital photos,
blog content solely to close friends, or discover a new
band.
MySpace provides a personal page for someone's photos and videos, and profile of likes, dislikes, favorite bands, movies, books, and more. There's also e-mail, IM, and chat, as well as discussion groups. Users invite their friends to sign up, who in turn invite their friends to sign up. Pretty soon users find out that their personal "network" of friends is quite large.
You can search through all the members to find like-minded people who are between certain ages, are looking for relationships, and who live within a few miles of your zip code. See a photo you like? Leave a message for the person and ask to be made a "friend." If you're added, your photo will appear on their personal page, too. Users can add comments to your page but beware: They can also add HTML code to their comments that may change your own page's fonts, colors, even graphics. You might end up with an explicit photo you don't want; even the help files aren't much help in telling you how to remove offensive material placed on your own page by others.
Planning a reunion, barbeque, or party? Users can easily post an event to the calendar and invite people to public or private "real life" gatherings.
This feature is also used by many bands to promote their music and publicize their concerts. You can hear songs, watch videos, and send messages to your favorite bands -- or just browse around to discover some cool new music. Just be warned: MySpace abounds with fake pages put up by fans so don't be fooled.
Ads pop up on the home page and all profile pages ads posts and sponsored links at the top of the pages and some even have ads within the profile.
There's one more -- and probably the biggest -- caveat to keep in mind: MySpace doesn't hold itself accountable for anything that appears on the site, although they will take something inappropriate down if it's brought to their attention.
For social networking sites for kids too young for MySpace, check out Whyville.net and think.mtv.com.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
