Social Networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook are endangering NZ teenagers

Social Networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook has truly transformed the way we interact and communicate with each other. The claims of these social networking sites is to build communities of people who share common interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of the other. In my opinion it is not a safe virtual meeting place for NZ teenagers to hang out. I firmly believe that they are endangering NZ teenagers because of identity theft, cyberstalking and sexual predators.

'Identity theft'. Myspace and Facebook requires or gives you the option to give out your personal details like your name, where you live and your email address. In real life, you would not give out these details to people you do not know, so why do it on the net? This is when identity theft comes in. As a virtual public meeting place, anyone can view your profile and pretend to be you. Someone can copy down your information and pretend to be 'you' when taking part in illegal activities like crime, theft and so on. When legal authorities like the police gets involved and investigate the source of the illegal activity, they will find your name and all your other personal details and track you down. This is why I find social networking sites a dangerous playground to hang out.

'Cyberstalking'. Cyberstalking is the use of electronic communication like pagers, cellphones, emails and the internet to bully, harass, threaten and intimidate a victim. Whether it is done in person or over a computer, the effects of being stalked can be very devastating to anyone who endures it. Cyberstalking is a real and fast increasing global problem with most of its victims targeted at young and females. How this is associated with social networking sites? When you post your profile on facebook and myspace, it helps you to connect with your friends more easily as well as making you vulnerable to these cyber predators. The difference between cyberstalking and identity theft is that cyberstalking does evolve into physical stalking, unlike identity theft where you never get to meet the person or see the person. Cyberstalkers also search for their victims by using search engines, online forums, discussion boards and chat rooms. The scary thing about being cyberstalked is that most of the victims never know that they are being followed.

'Sexual predators'. Myspace is in the spotlight today after revealing that 90,000 registered sex offenders have been kicked off its site in the past two years! This is a ridiculously huge amount of low lifes who would do whatever it takes to crush the freedom of others. Again, letting out your details and posting your pictures on these sites makes you vulnerable to these sick people. There is a true story about a 13 year old girl who got murdered by an internet sexual predator. She was just like any other teenager, a good student and co-captain of her Catholic school cheerleading team. Christina Long lead a double life online, pretending to be a tough girl who boasted that she was ready to face anything. She was strangled by a married restaurant worker, who she met in the chat room. The name of this sexual predator is Saul Dos Reis, 25 years of age and an undocumented immigrant from Brazil.

Social networking sites really are a threat to NZ teenagers. What teenagers like Christina Long tend to forget, is that "little drops of water makes a mighty ocean". What this means is that every little piece of information you leak out in facebook or myspace makes you the more vulnerable to the world of cyber crime. So Beware!