Facebook branded 'arrogant' and 'complacent' towards paedophile threat

A child-protection expert has branded Facebook 'arrogant' and 'complacent' despite an in increase in reports of paedophile activity on the site.  

12 Year Old Spends £900 on 'FarmVille' Facebook Game

A 12-year-old boy has spend £625 on his mother's credit card and £288 of his own savings on virtual property in the popular Facebook game FarmVille.

FarmVille is one of the most popular games on Facebook and revolves around managing a virtual farm by cultivating virtual crops, trees and livestock.

Safety Tips for Google Buzz

Google's fledgling Social Networking effort, Google Buzz, launched in February 2010 and immediately caused a storm of controversy over its privacy and safety implications.  

Bloggers and tech writers worried about the 'opt-out' nature of the service (which meant that all Google Mail users were instantly members, whether they liked it or not), the lack of control over personal information such as photographs and friend lists, and the geolocation features (which made it possible to disclose your exact location from your mobile phone).  

Pupils Bully Teachers on Facebook

According to a report by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) pupils are increasingly using social networking sites to undermine and bully teachers.  Some pupils are even making malicious and unfounded allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers.

In one instance a pupil set up a profile under the name of a teacher and wrote on the profile that he enjoyed 'under age sex with both boys and girls'.  In another, pupils set up a Facebook group entitled 'Join this group if you think Mrs [name removed] is still a virgin.'

Bebo, MySpace or Facebook used by a quarter of UK 8-12 year olds

According to a recent survey by UK regulator OFCOM, a quarter (25%) of UK internet users aged between eight and twelve years old have profiles on social networking sites Bebo, Facebook or MySpace. 

This is despite the fact that the lowest minimum age requirement on any of the sites is 13.

Are Your Children Hacking... Your Email Account?

 

In a survey of 1000 children, released by Cumbria Constabulary and reported by CNN, more than a quarter (26%) said that they had tried ‘hacking’ (breaking into another person’s account on a computer) at some point.

Predators on Facebook: Should you be worried?

 

In the wake of the shocking rape and murder of teenager Ashleigh Hall, who was ‘groomed’ by predatory paedophile Peter Chapman on Facebook, the British press have been quick to point the finger of blame at Facebook.

In an unbelievably sensationalist article on the Daily Mail website, Mark Williams-Thomas, a ‘vastly experienced’ consultant in child protection and a former police detective, paints a terrifying picture of hundreds of men waiting to groom and abuse young women online.  Mr Williams-Thomas set up a profile purporting to be a 14-year old girl and, apparently, simply waited for the indecent proposals to flood in.

Facebook Campaigns Place Children ‘At Risk’

An outbreak of Facebook Campaigns created to ‘out’ promiscuous women on Facebook are putting children at risk, according to a report in today’s Metro newspaper.

Today is Safer Internet Day - Think B4 U Post!

Today, 9th February 2009, is Safer Internet Day 2010.  The worldwide initiative is organised each year to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology, particularly amongst children throughout the world. 

The message which Safer Internet Day is promoting this year is Think B4 U Post!

Click Read More for more information, and to view a video about this year’s Safer Internet Day message.

Teens Not Interested in ‘Blogging’ or ‘Tweeting’, Prefer Facebook

A study published this week by US organisation Pew Internet reveals the surprising conclusion that, whilst teens spend a long time on Facebook viewing status updates and photographs, they are far less likely to write a blog or use Twitter.

US Children Spend “11 Hours a Day” on Entertainment Media

According to a new study from US organisation The Kaiser Family Foundation, reported on cnet, there has been a ‘dramatic’ rise in the amount of time 8-18 year olds spend using ‘entertainment media’ each day. 

Social networking ‘campaigns’ – a force for good or evil?

The Lighter Side

Most UK readers will be aware of the runaway success of a Facebook campaign to deprive Joe McElderry, this year’s winner of TV talent contest The X Factor, of their seemingly-compulsory Christmas Number 1.  For the last five years the winner of the X Factor has been guaranteed the top position in the chart at Christmastime. 

The Facebook campaign encourages people to buy the 1992 protest song ‘Killing In The Name’ by Rage Against The Machine instead of Joe’s single as a form of protest against the glossy, slick talent show and it’s musical output.  Donations, and profits from the sale of Rage Against The Machine’s single, are being donated to charities.

As of the Midweek chart, Rage Against The Machine are leading McElderry by several hundred thousand sales, and the campaign seems to be a runaway success.

This is just one example of the ‘people power’ of social networking sites, where a spontaneous movement can turn into an organised campaign in hours, and give a voice to thousands of people.

The ‘Rage Against The Machine’ Facebook campaign is clearly relatively light-hearted, but ‘people power’ on social network sites can have a much darker side…

Social Networking sites to launch "Panic Button"

A report in today's Telegraph suggests that an end is nigh to the ongoing disagreement between Internet Safety organisations and Social Networking sites on the use of so-called "Panic Buttons". 

Earlier this month, the social networking site Bebo agreed to place a "Panic Button" on it's website.  The button, created in association with the UK's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), allows children to quickly and easily report offensive, obscene and other inappropriate material.  At the time, other (larger) social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace refused to adopt the scheme, claiming that they had sufficient mechanisms in place to protect their young users in the first instance.