Is Facebook safe?
Just like communities in the physical world, no social networking site, virtual
world, online game, or any other social-media service can provide a guarantee
of 100% safety, Facebook included. Why? Because this is the social Web, and
safety depends a great deal on users’ behavior toward one another. Facebook
provides safety and privacy features and education for its users. Parents would
benefit from visiting Facebook’s Safety Center, a comprehensive resource in
the site with information for Teens, Parents, Educators, and Law Enforcement.
That in-site safety information and this guidebook are important for the very
reason that Facebook’s “product” is produced by its users. Parents need to
know that, on the social Web, safety is a shared responsibility – a constant
negotiation between users (for example, all the friends in a photo being
shared with other friends on the site), between users and the site, and
between teen users and their parents.
4
So the short answer to that question is that, in this new, very social media
environment, a user’s safety depends on the user as much as on the site.
That’s why parents need to be informed and keep communication lines with
their children wide open – because youth, like all Facebook users, are
constantly communicating, posting, and sharing content in the site.
What are the risks involved in social networking?
Youth-risk research has recently made five important findings:
1. Young people who behave aggressively online are more than twice as
likely to be victimized online, so children’s own behavior in Facebook or
any social site is key to their well-being on the social Web.
2. The most common risk young people face online is peer harassment or
aggression – in other words hurtful, harassing, or defamatory behavior.
3. A child’s psychosocial makeup and environment (for example, home and
school) are better predictors of risk than any technology that the child
uses, so...
4. Not all children are equally at risk online, and the children who are most
at risk online are those who are most at risk in “real life,” or offline.
5. Although, for the vast majority of youth, online social networking is
largely a reflection of offline life, it can also amplify, perpetuate and
widely distribute real-life problems or conflicts – very rapidly. Something
posted in anger or on impulse is extremely difficult to take back, so it
has never been more important for users (of any age) to think before
they “speak,” post, or send a text message.
Specific social networking risks include...
● Posting information about themselves that: a) could help strangers determine
their physical location; b) could be used to manipulate them; or c) whether
posted by them or others, could cause psychological harm or jeopardize
reputations and future prospects
● Harassment or online bullying (“cyberbullying”) on the part of your children
or others’
● Spending too much time online, losing a sense of balance in their activities
(“too much” is subjective, which is why parents need to be engaged)
● Exposure to inappropriate content (this too is subjective) – although,
typically, worse content can be found out on the Web at large than in
Facebook or other responsible social networking sites
● Potential for inappropriate contact with adults (parents need to ensure that
social networking does not lead to offline contact unapproved by them and
other caring adults in their children's lives)
5
● Damage to reputation or future prospects because of young people’s own
behavior or that of their peers – unkind or angry posts, compromising photos
or videos, or group conflict depicted in text and imagery.
Just like communities in the physical world, no social networking site, virtual
world, online game, or any other social-media service can provide a guarantee
of 100% safety, Facebook included. Why? Because this is the social Web, and
safety depends a great deal on users’ behavior toward one another. Facebook
provides safety and privacy features and education for its users. Parents would
benefit from visiting Facebook’s Safety Center, a comprehensive resource in
the site with information for Teens, Parents, Educators, and Law Enforcement.
That in-site safety information and this guidebook are important for the very
reason that Facebook’s “product” is produced by its users. Parents need to
know that, on the social Web, safety is a shared responsibility – a constant
negotiation between users (for example, all the friends in a photo being
shared with other friends on the site), between users and the site, and
between teen users and their parents.
4
So the short answer to that question is that, in this new, very social media
environment, a user’s safety depends on the user as much as on the site.
That’s why parents need to be informed and keep communication lines with
their children wide open – because youth, like all Facebook users, are
constantly communicating, posting, and sharing content in the site.
What are the risks involved in social networking?
Youth-risk research has recently made five important findings:
1. Young people who behave aggressively online are more than twice as
likely to be victimized online, so children’s own behavior in Facebook or
any social site is key to their well-being on the social Web.
2. The most common risk young people face online is peer harassment or
aggression – in other words hurtful, harassing, or defamatory behavior.
3. A child’s psychosocial makeup and environment (for example, home and
school) are better predictors of risk than any technology that the child
uses, so...
4. Not all children are equally at risk online, and the children who are most
at risk online are those who are most at risk in “real life,” or offline.
5. Although, for the vast majority of youth, online social networking is
largely a reflection of offline life, it can also amplify, perpetuate and
widely distribute real-life problems or conflicts – very rapidly. Something
posted in anger or on impulse is extremely difficult to take back, so it
has never been more important for users (of any age) to think before
they “speak,” post, or send a text message.
Specific social networking risks include...
● Posting information about themselves that: a) could help strangers determine
their physical location; b) could be used to manipulate them; or c) whether
posted by them or others, could cause psychological harm or jeopardize
reputations and future prospects
● Harassment or online bullying (“cyberbullying”) on the part of your children
or others’
● Spending too much time online, losing a sense of balance in their activities
(“too much” is subjective, which is why parents need to be engaged)
● Exposure to inappropriate content (this too is subjective) – although,
typically, worse content can be found out on the Web at large than in
Facebook or other responsible social networking sites
● Potential for inappropriate contact with adults (parents need to ensure that
social networking does not lead to offline contact unapproved by them and
other caring adults in their children's lives)
5
● Damage to reputation or future prospects because of young people’s own
behavior or that of their peers – unkind or angry posts, compromising photos
or videos, or group conflict depicted in text and imagery.
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