Social networking and video
sharing sites
The dangers of social networking
sites
• That have been rare cases where
children have been abused by
paedophiles who were able to find
out about them via their social
networking pages
• The much more everyday risk
however is cyberbullying
The dangers of social networking
sites
• The risks also include getting into trouble
with friends or even the police by posting
inappropriate, offensive or illegal content
• There is also the risk of children posting
abusive comments on other peoples’
pages or coming across potentially
harmful content while looking at the pages
of other people
Well-known social networking
sites
• The main ones are:
–
–
–
–
Bebo
MySpace
Facebook
Teenspot
• There are hundreds of
others though
– http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/List_of_social_net
working_websites
What do social networking sites
provide?
• They allow users to create a place
online in which they can present
themselves and their interests in an
exciting way
• They also allow users to develop and
maintain a network of friends and
contacts
What do social networking sites
provide?
• They give young people a powerful
voice to express their identity and
opinions
The positive aspects of social
networking
• There is a danger that by focusing on
the risks we may forget about the
benefits such as the creativity which
young people display by expressing
themselves and their ideas and
thoughts online
Talking to young people about
their social networking
• It is not easy talking to young people
about their social networking pages
• Young people use these sites as their
private domain in much the same way as
previous generations would kept a diary
• However, because of the public nature of
these sites and because young people
have been hurt by inappropriate
behaviour, it is important that parents
become involved
Talking to young people about
their social networking
• Young people are not creating their online
spaces to scare parents - they are doing
so because they need a place to meet and
talk to their friends
• As with most things, parents need to
strike a balance between educating them
to behave safely and trusting them to get
on with it
Why young people social network
• In a sense social networking is about selfexpression combined with socialising
• Features offered by social networking sites
such as blogging, instant messaging,
email, image, audio and video sharing,
comments, buddy lists, discussion boards
and chat enable this to happen
Why young people social network
• Young people like social networking
sites because they offer a degree of
anonymity but with just enough risk
to make it ‘cool’
What young people use social
networking sites for
• Social reasons
– Profiles are the ‘new chat’
– Some young people spend their social
networking time checking the comments
made on their profiles and commenting
on the profiles of their friends
What young people use social
networking sites for
• Self expression and identity
– Just as how your bedroom is decorated
matters when you’re a teenager, how your
social networking pages look matters too
– Some young people spend a lot of time
designing their pages – they change their
background, upload photos and music, include
fancy graphics files and link to other sites that
reflect who they are
What young people use social
networking sites for
• Public diary
– Some young people use their space as a
blog
– For them, it’s about being a writer
What young people use social
networking sites for
• Special interests
– Some young people are attracted by the
communities such as those focused on things
like music, hobbies and sports
– The upside is that young people can learn a lot
in these groups about things that interest
them
– The downside is that negative interests can be
reinforced in these communities
An example of a MySpace page
Young people and the Internet
• Young people see the Internet in a
different way to adults
– it’s not just a productivity tool and a more
convenient way to find information or shop
• It’s an extension of themselves
• They live big parts of their lives online –
for them, the distinction between online
and offline is blurring rapidly
Previous generations versus this
generation of young people
• Would hangout outside
• Get their entertainment
from TV, radio and
magazines
• Go to the library to do
their homework
• Communicate using the
phone
• Store their stuff in their
bedroom
• Play games at home or in
the park
• Hangout online
• Get their entertainment
online – for example,
YouTube and online radio
stations
• Do their homework online
• Communicate online –
email, IM, social
networking sites
• Store their stuff online
digitally
• Play games online
Young people and social
networking
• Social networking sites provide a great
opportunity to meet others and to share
experiences
• The activities that young people get up to
on social networking sites are important
for identity exploration – which is, after
all, one of the main things that happens
during adolescence
Young people and social
networking
• Young people don’t wander aimlessly
around social networking site as adults
tend to do
• They know their way around
– When they login they normally head straight to
their page to check on messages from friends,
make comments on the pages of their friends
and so on
• If there really bored they might browse
around or start searching
Young people and social
networking
• Young people tend to ‘multi-socialise’
– This means they juggle devices,
technologies, conversations and tasks
while they’re socialising online
• They might use one social
networking site for blogging and
another one for hanging out
Young people and social
networking
• Social networking is an extremely public form of
socialising but it’s very much part of today’s
world – for example, reality shows, people like
Paris Hilton being famous just for being famous
• Some young people think that they’ll have more
control if they expose their lives online
themselves than wait for someone else to do it
for them
• Not every young person likes social networking
but many feel they have to do it
Parents and social networking
• Parents look at the pages of other users
and worry that their children might be
mixing with people they don’t like the look
of
• But the truth is that most young people
co-exist with other users of the sites but
don’t mix with them – they socialise with
the people on their Friends List
Parents and social networking
• Fear is very important because it
alerts us to danger - one of the
principle tasks of adolescent
development is risk assessment so
learning about dangers is something
that young people need to do for
themselves and with the help of
parents
Parents and social networking
• Every generation of parents wishes it could
eliminate all risk from the lives of their children
and every generation of young people engages in
particular behaviours or face circumstances that
make their parents fearful:
– In the 1950s parents worried about
‘n’ roll
– In the 1960s parents worried about
sexual revolution
– In the 1970s parents worried about
children would find work when they
the influence of rock
drugs and the
whether their
left school
Parents and social networking
• Social networking is one of today’s
fears - but rarely are the young
people who use these sites being
harmed
Social networking and predators
• Physical abuse and abduction is a parent’s
worst nightmare but the truth is that the
chance of this happening from an online
encounter is highly unlikely
• Only a small minority of offenders hide
their intentions – so a big part of the
battle is not so much protecting children
against attack but is protecting them
against their own misjudgements
Social networking and predators
• Instilling this awareness of potential
manipulation can go a long way
towards ensuring safe, constructive
social networking
Social networking and predators
• Predators can be extremely skilful
and patient taking the time to groom
their victors by paying compliments
and offering an understanding
shoulder to lean on
• They also sometimes try intimidation
Social networking and predators
• Profiles on social networking sites
can provide an enormous amount of
valuable information for predators in
one go
Social networking and predators
• Research has shown that some types
of young people will be particularly
vulnerable and may need a bit of
extra attention
• An example is young people who are
very compliant because they are
more likely to act out being
noncompliant when they’re online
Social networking and predators
• Part of being non-compliant is taking
chances they wouldn’t normally take such
as entering into conversations with people
they meet online
• But when under the influence of a
predator such children often revert back
to their compliant selves because that’s
what they’re used to doing
Social networking and predators
• ‘Perfect kids’ can also be a concern –
offline they can feel there are things they
can’t express and going online and being
outside of the real world can give them a
chance to break out of that mould
• They get a certain level of excitement and
a sense of danger from the experience
Social networking and predators
• Predators know how to take
advantage of these thoughts
• What makes the situation worse is
that parents tend not to worry so
much – they think that if their
children are doing well at school and
so on that they’ll be fine
What the social networking sites
are doing to help
• MySpace says it dedicates a third of its workforce
to policing the site 24 hours a day, and that it
deletes anyone it determines is under its
minimum 14-years-old age limit
• It removes any inappropriate images it finds
• It also works with the police, and has partnered
with a nonprofit online safety group called
WiredSafety
• You'll also find a page on the site for reporting
inappropriate content
Social networking for under 14s
• A safe site called
www.imbee.com
has launched
CyberSafety tips for parents
• It may sound over simplistic but the best
way to protect children and young people
is to talk with them
– not only about risks but also about the positive
things they do online
• It should be two-way – listen to them and
be supportive plus keep an open mind
• Whatever you do don’t overreact and keep
a sense of perspective
CyberSafety tips for parents
• Keeping young people safe online isn’t
about technology – it’s about parenting
• Internet safety isn’t about the
Government passing laws – it’s about
young people developing resilience
• They need to learn to think for themselves
so that they can protect themselves
CyberSafety tips for parents
Be reasonable
– pulling the plug on children’s Internet
activities is rarely a good idea as the
first response
– It’s then too easy for them to ‘go
underground’ and access the Internet
from locations other than the home
CyberSafety tips for parents
• Help them to develop critical thinking skills
– Common sense will help them far more than
parental control software ever will
• Teach them the importance of being
friendly online
– Research shows that young people who are
aggressive and rude online towards friends or
strangers are at greater risk of becoming
victims themselves
CyberSafety tips for parents
• Try to get your children to share their
social networking profiles and blogs with
you
– Be aware that they can have multiple accounts
on multiple services
– Use search engines and the search tools on
social-networking sites to search for their
details - you're not invading their privacy if
they're putting personal info in public places
CyberSafety tips for parents
• The ideal way to monitor your child’s
social networking site is to visit often
and look around
• If your child has a private profile
have him or her add you to their
Friends List
CyberSafety tips for parents
• Carry out a search using both ordinary search
engines and the search tools on social networking
sites themselves – search using their name,
possible nickname, email addresses, phone
numbers, school, interests and any other
personally identifiable information you can think
of
• It is quite possible for your child to sign up under
a different name or from an email address you
may not be aware of
CyberSafety tips for parents
• Carefully consider using monitoring
and filtering services and programs:
– There are services that can monitor
social networking sites – they can keep
an eye on changes to a child’s public
profile (one such is
www.myspacewatch.com)
CyberSafety tips for parents
– There are also software programs that monitor every
keystroke of your child while using the computer – the
problem is though that they can’t be everywhere and
only work on the PC they’re installed on - as the
Internet becomes more generally available on a wide
range of devices they become less helpful
– Also installation of such software can lead to distrust - if
you don’t tell your children you’ve installed it they may
find out anyway and might find a way to disable it
– Examples include software made by Spectorsoft and
www.iambigbrother.com
Reporting misconduct
• If you come across a profile and see
something you consider to be
inappropriate you can report it to the
social networking site
Reporting misconduct
• Forms of misconduct include:
– Spam
– Underage users
– Cyberbullying
– Copyright violation
Reporting problems
• If you’re reporting what you believe to be
a crime or what you believe to be a risk to
life, property or safety contact the police
as well
• CEOP offer a Abuse Reporting service plus
you can report the following to the
Internet Watch Foundation:
– Child sexual abuse content hosted worldwide
– criminally obscene and incitement to racial
hatred content hosted in the UK
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• The two cardinal rules on online
safety apply to social networking:
– Never reveal personally identifiable
information such as name, address and
phone number
– Be extremely careful about face-to-face
meetings with people you meet online
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• Be as anonymous as possible – avoid
posting information that could enable
a stranger to locate you
• Protect your information – check to
see if your service allows you to
control who can view your
information - if so, allow only people
you know and trust
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• Photos – think before uploading
– What’s posted can be downloaded by
anyone and passed around
– Avoid posting photos that allow people
to identify you
– Avoid posting sexually suggestive
pictures
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• Check comments regularly
– If you allow comments on your profile
or blog check them often
– Don’t respond to nasty or embarrassing
comments - delete them and if possible
block offensive people from commenting
further
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• Be honest about your age
– Membership rules exist to protect
people
– If you’re too young to sign up for a
service do not lie about your age
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• Be yourself
– Don't be pressured to be someone you
aren't
• Treat other people the way you’d
want to be treated
– People who are nasty and aggressive
online are at greater risk of being
bullied or harassed themselves
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• Be cautious
– New people you meet online may act nice
because they're trying to get something – if
they’re flattering or sympathetic it may be that
they’re trying to manipulate you in order to get
something
• Don't talk about sex with strangers
– Be wary when talking to people you don’t
know especially if the conversation gets onto
subjects like sex or how you look - don't lead
them on
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• Be careful when using your mobile
– All the same tips apply with phones as
with computers
– Be careful who you give your number to
and how you use GPS and other
technologies that can pinpoint your
physical location
CyberSafety tips for children and
young people
• Remember that what you say in a
chat room or in an instant messaging
session is live - you can't take it back
or delete it later
CyberSafety tips – video sharing
Children and young people
• It’s there forever
– Whatever you post is basically permanent - even if you
later delete it, there is a chance that it has been copied,
forwarded or reposted by someone else
• Be aware of what’s in the scene with you
– Watch for stuff in the background – like posters, photos,
clothes, signs and cars – as it can reveal your identity or
location
• You are what you wear
– Think about what your appearance says about you
CyberSafety tips – video sharing
• Respect the privacy of others
– If recording in a public place, ask permission
before including bystanders, and never take
video of children without their parents’
permission
• Feel free to express yourself but don’t be
nasty
– You can be held legally responsible if you
slander, libel or defame someone
CyberSafety tips – video sharing
• Read and stick to the terms of use of
video sharing sites
– Most forbid sexually explicit material, violence,
and videos that are harassing, defamatory,
obscene, libelous, hateful, or violate the
privacy of other people
– They also prohibit the unauthorized use of
copyrighted material such as TV programmes
and music