Secure Social Networking

www.connectsafely.org

This up-to-date site designed for adults offers an excellent online discussion forum on social networking sites. You’ll also find the latest related news, with “commentaries” written by both staff and guest experts covering various legal, social, and safety issues. Of special interest: the commentaries on age verification and cyberbullying. Created by: Larry Magid and Anne Collier for the Tech Parenting Group, Palo Alto, CA. Don’t Miss: The online video “The Babysitter” and the PDF social networking safety tips for teens and parents, as well as the Web-based tips for teens and parents, available in Spanish.

kids.getnetwise.org/safetyguide/technology/socialnetworking

As with the entire GetNetWise site, the section on social networking is brief, to the point, and full of excellent information. Three online videos, for example, explain, step-by-step, how to change the privacy settings on Facebook, MySpace, and Xanga, three of the most popular networking sites.

The “Resources for Parents” section, especially OnGuardOnline (created by the Federal Trade Commission), offers excellent advice for concerned caregivers, with links to resources on monitoring and filtering software. Created by: The Internet Education Foundation, Washington, DC. Don’t Miss: The section “What Kinds of Risks Are There?” will help parents—and you—quickly understand the various safety issues related to social sites and, hopefully, spark a meaningful dialog with teens.

www.nsteens.org/videos/social-networking

This cool animated online video, featuring Slick the techie and Allie the cool new girl, is an excellent way to teach teens about the complicated privacy issues related to social networking sites. Link to it and let teens view the video independently, or better yet, use it as a teaching tool with both teens and their parents. After watching the video, check out “Real Life Stories” and “Teaching Materials” for even more resources.

Created by: The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Alexandria, VA. Don’t Miss: The “what you should report” link within the “Stuff to Know” box; it defines the types of online content/comments that require action. Detour: For answers to specific questions about networking online, be sure to visit “NetSmartz411” (www.netsmartz411.org/CAisd/pdmweb.exe) and search keyword terms such as “personal profile,” “social networks,” and “MySpace.”

www.ikeepsafe.org/PRC/videotutorials/myspace/index.html

If teens or adults are relatively new to social networking sites or not highly savvy users, you’ll want to link to all of the videos in this series of 11 online tutorials. (Just be sure to turn off the annoying background music by clicking on the musical notes at the bottom right of the screen.) One video, “Social Networking 101” provides a great overview of MySpace. Consider showing it as part of an introductory library workshop on social networks. In the “How to Use” section, you’ll find clips that show teens how to set up and protect their MySpace profiles and how parents can get involved with this process. Meanwhile, the videos in “How to Report” describe how to deal with inappropriate content and how to alert the folks at MySpace. Created by: The Internet Keep Safe Coalition, Arlington, VA. Detour: For additional information for parents (including more online videos), be sure to also visit “MySpace Safety for Parents & Educators” (www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cms.viewpage&placement=safety_pageparents).

www.staysafe.org/teens/default.html

Here, teens can learn how to protect themselves while using social network sites, as well as how to protect their computer from hackers and spammers. From the home page, click “Find Out More” to see a list of topics. Under “Manage Your Personal Information,” teens can investigate identity theft, cyberbullying, online fraud, and online predators. In the “Be Smart Online” section, teens can learn more about how to build their online network more safely, how to shop online more safely, how to handle online bullies, and most importantly talking to their parents about being online. (To find out how to protect your computer, just click on the “Your Computer” section of the navbar.) Created by: Stay Safe Partners & Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA. Don’t Miss: For adults, click on both the “Teacher Resources” and “Parent Resources” tabs at the top of the home page. There you’ll find the necessary tools for teaching kids about staying safe on social networks and avoiding online fraud.