How to Keep Your MySpace a SafeSpace

This is an expansion of "Five Things to Leave Off Your Myspace Profile," published on October 17, 2006:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/69159/five_things_to_leave_off_your_myspace.html

MySpace has exploded over the past few years and has been a very successful outlet for music, marketing, and connecting people. However, as with all conveniences the Internet provides, there are some drawbacks; the issue with MySpace, unfortunately, has been one of its members' safety. While reported incidents of violence or stalking have been relatively far between, sharing personal information on the web is still riskier than we always remember.

It doesn't help that MySpace asks personal (albeit optional) questions about a person's body type and other features, creating a need to connect on what could be an unnecessary level. And yet, there are certain pressures to at least have a MySpace page; millions of people have them, why shouldn't you? For the more private amongst us, here are a few more ways to keep your details private while still joining in on all the crazy fun that the "place for friends" has to offer.

1.Set your profile to private. It won't keep people from looking you up, and you can still be contacted by your long-lost high school buddies. If you have to approve friends, you've got a better chance of knowing who is looking at your profile.

2.Don't accept people you don't know as friends. It sounds counterproductive considering why many people join MySpace. If you're looking to find old friends, then you'll already know who is trying to contact you. If you're looking to network, do a brief background check before accepting people. It doesn't take long to look at someone else's MySpace profile or drop them a note asking how they found you. MySpace also offers the option of not accepting friend requests from bands - we all know plenty of people who claim they don't want or need to have a personal MySpace page and then use their band's page for the same purposes.

3.Talk to your kids about MySpace/online safety. Kids today grow up with the internet and are pretty net savvy. Internet safety isn't anything new to the younger generations, but somehow people still let their guard down when it comes to internet networking (it must pertain to the fact that people "know" who they are talking to when they can see someone's profile). Not to sound like an after school special, but talking to (not nagging) your kids about what they're up to with MySpace will at least remind them that you've got an eye out for them. For those of you who think that this is being over bearing or that teenagers can handle themselves online, I think it worth mentioning that more than one teen has been duped by a pedophile claiming to be a lot younger than he or she was.

4.Edit your blog content. You might be careful when it comes to your profile content, but don't forget that certain things in your blog can be very telling about who you are, where you are, and what you do. If stalkers are what worry you when it comes to MySpace, a blog can be even more revealing. The same applies to the groups you subscribe to; the more you open yourself up or align yourself with different cliques, the easier it becomes for people to identify you.

5.Take precautions with your photos. It's not just the impression you give off, but it also is another way for complete strangers to identify you. Where photos are taken - popular local hangouts, schools, etc, are very telling as to where you are. Group photos offer some protection from this, they allow for you personally to be less easy to identify. Just make sure you get your friends' approval before you go posting them all over the web as well.

Perhaps some of these suggestions will come across as slightly paranoid or will lead people to ask what the point is of even having a MySpace if one is going to be so secretive. But, ask anyone who has ever done even rudimentary marketing through MySpace (you know all those mailing lists you sign up for at concerts? Fairs? Festivals? Don't be surprised when they request to be your friend) can tell you, it doesn't matter who you are, as long as you're remotely interested in what they're pushing.