© 2009 charles d. knutson safe online social networking? positives, dangers, and challenges dr....
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Safe Online Social Networking?
Positives, Dangers, and Challenges
Dr. Charles D. Knutson
Brigham Young University
www.charlesknutson.net
© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Social network
Any network of individuals who interact for any reason
Traditional face-to-face networkingWard activityFootball gameFamily reunionBowling league
Our concern is with the emergent online variety…
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Social networking site
Websites that host an online communityBring together people with common
goals, interests, concernsSite may represent a singular interestSite normally permits the formation of
smaller networking groupsAccepting friends into a closer network
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Types of social networks Personal networking
Facebook, MySpace
Professional networking LinkedIn
Blogging Millions of individual blogs
Online discussion boards Hosted on traditional sites (news, sports, etc.)
Music sharing Last.fm, Playist
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Types of social networks Video sharing
YouTube, Google Video
Photo sharing Flickr, Picasa
Hobby and special interest networking Ancestry.com, all types of hobbies
Cyberdating Match, eHarmony
We'll talk about each of these in turn5
© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Cyberdating
Various types of dating sitesGeneric dating sitesTargeted demographics
LDS Singles, Christian singles, cat lovers…Elicit "hook-up" sites
Concerns…ContentPrivacyPredators
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Hobby and special interest
Varied interestsGenealogy, knitting, books, travel,
religion, movie lovers…Also illicit topics…
Generally tame communitiesStill need to gauge the spirit of the
community and the participantsAssess the rules of the community to
see how you feel about it
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Hobby and special interest
ConcernsContent is focused and concentrated
For good and for badPrivacy
Personal information availablePredators
Particularly where the topics are more salacious
Relationships with other users online have to be managed
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Photo sharing
Great value in sharing photos with friends and families
Professional photographers can show off their work
Most popular sites:
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Photo sharing
Can limit access to selected peopleBut anyone whose work is public can
publish to the worldConcerns
ContentGenerally all types of material
PrivacyYour own photos may be viewed if public
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Video sharing
Great value in accessing videosSources of content
Professional content made availableUser generated content
Fairly high noise levelMost popular sites:
But also…Facebook,
MySpace, etc.
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Video sharing
ConcernsSome good content, but large quantities
of inappropriate materialMuch is not protected from accidental
access by childrenPrivacy
Kids posting videos of themselves onlinePrimarily content exchange, rather than
relationship buildingPosted comments often crude or vulgar
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Music sharing
Downloadable musicCommercialShared
Streaming musicCommercialShared
Some systems couple music sharing with social networking featuresMeet people with similar playlists
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Music sharing - Concerns
ConcernsDownloadable music
Peer-to-peer systems are problematicKazaa, Gnutella, LimeWire, BearShare,
etc.Content often illegalSoftware often loads spywareCan also serve up pornographic material
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Music sharing
ConcernsDownloadable music
Pay-per-track systems are legaliTunes Store, Amazon MP3, eMusic Need to monitor purchasesBudget and contentSystems may allow access to other
content
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Music sharing
ConcernsStreaming music
Subscription servicesNapster, Rhapsody
Is unlimited access to music healthy?Regular monthly costAlbum covers or other images
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Music sharing
ConcernsStreaming music
Free systemsPlaylist, iLike, iMeem
Music may not be legalMusic may still be downloadableSocial networking features
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Online discussion boards
Most informational sitesNews, sports, blogs
Can be a healthy discourseMost often not…
ConcernsProfanity, base level of discussionLinks to other sitesProfile pictures of commentersHigh noise factor
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Online discussion boards
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Blogging
"Web Log" = "Blog"User generated articles, stories,
rants, reports, whateverEvery topic imaginable
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Blogging
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Micro-blogging140 characters or less
Can follow peopleReceive their "tweets"Selected friends' tweets sent to phone
Can use Twitter to update your Facebook status
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
ConcernsPrivacy
Do you really want the whole world to know your whole family is out of town?
NoiseDo you really need to read updates from
that many people in a single day?Content
Spammers and pornographers using Twitter to promote their content
Can block any followers you want23
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Professional networking
Very valuable serviceLinkedIn
Think of your Rolodex, but onlineYour old work buddy moves, you don't
lose track of himVery little downside
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
More than 300 social networking sites of this type
Membership in personal social networking sites is approaching 1 billion peopleFacebook, MySpace
About 250 million users each
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
Most popular sitesFacebook – 250 millionMySpace – 250 millionHabbo – 120 millionFriendster – 90 millionhi5 – 80 millionTagged – 80 millionOrkut – 70 million
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
Two broad types:1. Provide interactions for people who
already know each otherNot cool to approach strangers
Facebook, LinkedIn
2. Help people to meet who don't already know each otherEncouraged to meet new "friends"
MySpace, most other sites
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
Positive value is huge…Sharing family photos, news, and other
information with a trusted network of friendsSome of whom are remote
Reconnecting with long lost friendsTwo of my favorite missionary companions
with very generic names, made contact in the last 3 months via Facebook!
After almost 30 years
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
Downside is significantMeeting "friends" that you don't know in
real life is obviously problematicReconnecting with long lost friends
That were maybe best left in the lost pastPrivacy concerns are always significantPredator issues
Especially for the youth
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
Addiction concernsContent
Despite terms and conditions, there is a large amount of pornography or other inappropriate material on most social networking sites
Obsessing and time wastingYouth especially suffer from social
networking withdrawalDigital equivalent of hanging out at the
mall
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking "During the 2006 power outage in L.A.,
MySpace was down for about twelve hours. It was a dark, dark time in more ways than one. However, the outage has helped me to identify my addiction to MySpace. While it was out, I kept checking to try and log in until finally I got in there, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I read my boring e-mails and felt at ease."
– Jassa, 17, from "Generation MySpace" by Candice M. Kelsey
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
Sites have their own personalities and value systems
You can learn by checking them outRead their policies and Online
Safety pagesTwo examples…
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Personal social networking
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Tagged.com – "Online Safety"
© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
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Orkut.com – "Advice for Parents"
© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
How does the site make you feel spiritually?
What sorts of things are they promoting on the front page?
Some examples…
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking "Facebook helps you connect and share
with the people in your life" "Find your friends and meet new people"
– Tagged "orkut is an online community designed to
make your social life more active and stimulating. orkut's social network can help you maintain existing relationships with pictures and messages, and establish new ones by reaching out to people you've never met before."
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
"Meet people from all around the world" – hi5
"Friendster is focused on helping people stay in touch with friends and discover new people and things that are important to them."
"Connect with friends and meet new people. Hang out, throw parties, join groups, post in forums."– Habbo
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Personal social networking
Do they promote profiles of some of their users?What are these users portraying?Generally, promoting user profiles gives
a sort of "meat market" feel to the siteOften immodesty or other teaser
content in these user profiles
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
User profiles
Most social networking sites include: Personal information – "Profile" Friends Blogs Chat, messages, and email Discussion groups Pictures and images Streaming video Streaming music Message boards
Combines all other social networks
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Some statistics More than 10% of teenagers have posted a
nude or seminude picture of themselves or others online 2% of parents surveyed said that about their teens
At least a quarter of the young people polled had posted something they later regretted
22 percent saying they check their sites more than 10 times a day 4% of parents surveyed said that about their teens
54 percent of teens demonstrate risky behavior online
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Social network guidelines
Be very selective when it comes to being involved in a social networkMy take is that Facebook is by far the
most tame, and the safestStill doesn't make it the right choice for
you and your family
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Social network guidelines
ProfilesDo not provide full information
Birth year, SSN, or other identifying information
Keep all profiles private always!Unless you're a public figure and the
profile is a public face for your admiring fans
Remember that anything you post is essentially permanent
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Social networking guidelinesParents
Monitor where your kids are and what they are doing
Determine age specific guidelines for your householdStill doesn't assume unfettered access!
If your kids are on a social network…Join the network and add them as a friend
All other parental guidelines for technology access apply…
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© 2009 Charles D. Knutson
Questions?
Internet Safety Podcastwww.internetsafetypodcast.com
Internet Safety Wikiwiki.internetsafetypodcast.com
Dr. Charles Knutson
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