Teens and Social Networking

1. Teens and Social Networking Do they perceive the risks?

2. Identity and theft Identity theft is all too easy to accomplish today- especially if the youth does not censor their information. A teen with their date of birth, e-mail, name, location, and hometown, along with a list of their friends to view, all available on their website makes things much easier for a thief to assume their identity and start making a ‘new’ life for themselves and the victim.

3. Statistics say: “Federal Trade Commission statistics for 2003 show that of the approximately 10 million cases of identity theft that year, the largest percentage -- 28 percent -- was among 18- to 29-year-olds.” This is when most start to utilize their credit and realize they have none. http://www.seattlepi.com/local/251779_lcenter13.html

4. How can we protect ourselves? Keep your personal information like DOB and where you live off from social networks. Keep your wireless phone number private. Do not give your personal information over the phone or Internet unless you are sure you are interacting with a reputable organization. Listing your schools, friends and other ways that a thief may hack passwords and other information is risky. If you're going off to college, ask the school not to use your Social Security number as your college ID number. Also, be very careful who you give your Social Security number to! http://www.incredibleinternet.com/related/tips-for-teens

5. Privacy Do teens express themselves the same way offline as they do online? The risk with this would be not having the same ‘mind to mouth’ filter. By ‘mind to mouth’ filter I mean a teen will be more reluctant to say certain things about themselves- feelings, opinions, etc.- if they are interacting face to face with another person. Without face to face interactions, it is easier to say what one thinks and not worry about the repercussions.

6. Online vs. offline issues The bad: The good: • Teens may express themselves and find positive outlets for their own stress relief. • Teens may develop closer connections with offline friends by utilizing a digital life. • It is easier to open up to people and express opinions, feelings, etc., friends and family get to know you better. • Teens may be inclined to share feelings of anger, hurt, or other personal expressions that may affect their social aspects in their offline life. • OOPS! I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Opening up online may leave teens vulnerable for bullying. • Online bullying can be more alluring than other methods of bullying. Anonymity makes targeting others trouble-free because there may not be consequences.

7. Life or Death As previously established, it is easier to open up to people online- especially if you don’t know who they are. Teens using MySpace, Facebook, and chat rooms create a very dangerous environment for themselves if they do not comprehend the mind of a predator- and most do not. This situation is dangerous.

8. TMI: Too Much Information If you think your identity is in danger from a thief, what do think will happen to it in the hands of a predator? Educate youth on proper privacy settings. Educate youth on what information is appropriate on the web and what is dangerous in the hands of a stranger. Know what your kids are doing! Who are they talking to? What sites are they looking at? Can you see them? Should you trust them? Words and pictures mean nothing! Maybe creating a password or some other method for teens to know that who they are talking to is legit. Example: If someone starts talking about a party that they saw you at, ask them about specifics and if they don’t have them- they may not have been there!

9. Survey Says: How does your digital privacy- or lack thereof- interfere with your non-digital privacy? That question meaning: do the things you post online also have an effect on you offline? Where do you draw the line on what information you would reveal on your page(s)? • Would you reveal your e-mail? • 6 /6 have revealed their e-mails on their profiles • Your telephone number? • 2/6 have revealed their phone numbers • Your date of birth and location? • 6/6 have revealed their DOB • 3/6 have their hometown listed • Pictures of yourself, family, and friends? • All those surveyed have at least their family listed on their Facebook- if not friends as well. Whether they realize it or not, pictures of their friends and family appear on the side of their Facebook pages; most of them didn’t know. • “I never really thought about it being two different lives. I don’t think my profiles effect me offline.” Andrea A, 18 • “Not me personally, but I will see friends fighting online and they will still be fighting in school over what was posted.” Rachel A, 15 • “I do see friends post pictures of underage parties and they spread fast. Parents and school boards start getting suspicious and students caught will be suspended from sports and school.” Jessica H, 18

10. Survey Continued: Are you concerned with strangers or even ‘friends of friends’ stumbling upon your information? Do you ever ‘wish no one read that post’ before you deleted it? • “Sometimes. I’m not the most popular person at school, so sometimes my page is my outlet.” Natalie B, 14 • “No. I don’t reveal information that others wouldn’t find ‘accepted’ that would make me look..well..I don’t post my feelings.” Codie B, 16 • “No. My profiles are me. I am the same on and offline.” Rachel A, 15 • “I’m not concerned with people viewing my information that I post.” Sean H, 13 • “My profiles aren’t set on private. I just don’t see myself at risk. I never thought about someone stealing or wanting my information.” Codie B, 16 • “I have my profiles so that only my friends can view. I think that there are so many people out there that someone targeting me is unlikely.” Andrea A, 18

11. Survey Continued: Using social networks to express yourself, do you bare more online than you would offline? • “Yes. I express more of my personality because it’s easier to write it than speak it.” Andrea A, 18 • “I express more of my feelings on my MySpace and Facebook. I don’t have too many friends from my school that can view my profiles so I don’t worry about being teased.” Natalie B, 14 • “No. I don’t say anything online that I wouldn’t say offline.” Codie B, 16

12. What I took from the survey • Most of the teens did not feel that they were exposing too much information about themselves- or that they could be victimized. • Most were more concerned about what their peers would think about what they wrote on their walls than if strangers were looking at them. • Most of those surveyed have been submersed in digital culture since birth. It is second nature to them, however, it’s second nature for those not born digital to lock the house when you leave. On the internet there is no lock to your privacy as if on a house. Information is free flowing about you, your friends, and your family. Parents need to make sure that their children ‘lock the door’ when using social networks. No DOB, no hometown, no listed e-mail or screen name, and apply appropriate privacy settings. It’s also important to know that who you are talking to is indeed who they claim to be.