Excerpted from
Safe Practices for Life Online Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe Most middle and high school students deal daily with risks associated with being online. Because the Internet is a valuable educational tool providing information, allowing for increased collaboration and communication, and preparing students for the jobs of the future, it is important that we focus on educating students about behavior that lets them use this resource safely. Safe Practices for Life Online is a guide with practical advice for helping middle and high school students make good choices and minimize risks online. The book sheds light on teaching students how to conduct themselves online while staying safe and reaping the benefits of all the Internet has to offer. What personal information can a student’s user name reveal? What is the most effective way to create a secure password? What should a student do if he or she is bullied or made to feel uncomfortable online? Do your students understand how to spot a phishing scam? How should students respond to the challenging situations they experience daily online? Education is the key and this resource helps provide that.
Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
Chapter
7
Social Networking
Online, there are no boundaries.
CHAPTER 7
Social Networking
Social Networking Is Everywhere The explosion of social networks on the Internet has revolutionized the communication patterns of young people. Children and teens use social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Xanga, Live Journal, Flickr, and a host of others to form connections and develop relationships online. Some sites, such as Classmates.com or Graduate.com, have a specific focus on schools and students. Other sites draw users with specific interests, such as gaming, photo sharing, sports, movies, hobbies, or music. Belonging to sites such as MySpace or Facebook can feel much like hanging out at the mall. The migration of young teens and tweens to social networking sites has contributed to a marketing bonanza and financial windfall for the sites and their advertisers. In 2005 Rupert Murdoch’s company, News Corporation, purchased MySpace for $580 million. Recent research shows MySpace wasn’t even three years that social networks such old! A count in the fall of 2007 as Facebook and MySpace turned up 96 publicly available don’t help users build social networks ranging in size new, close relationships. from several thousand users to 200 The research shows that million. Most of these sites are face-to-face contact is intended for adults or older teens, still critical to building close personal friendships. yet children as young as nine are (ScienceDaily, 2007) joining these sites. Unfortunately along with being offered social networking opportunities, children and teens are being targeted with scams and enticements that lure them to spend money, expose themselves to malware, and worse.
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Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
Social Networking
CHAPTER 7
As adults, we create limits and structures for our children to allow them to grow up healthy and safe. It’s the nature of children and teens to push past boundaries and test the structures that adults create for them. Online, there are no boundaries. Life on social networks for many is like the Wild West. Children and teens tend to feel that the social networking world is theirs, and that adults aren’t welcome. We routinely find children and teens testing boundaries in ways that are hurtful, denigrating, demeaning, age inappropriate, and sexually inappropriate. The issues associated with social networks are different for younger children and teens, so we will address them separately.
Social Networking for Teens While popular social networks such as MySpace and Facebook require users to be at least 14, we recommend 16 as a better age to start using these sites. Younger teens are not developmentally ready to handle the many issues that arise with social networking. Some users post provocative pictures or use inappropriate language. For example, a 15-year-old girl we spoke with couldn’t understand the risks she was taking by posting, on her page, a provocative photo of herself in a bikini, or why her choice could be seen as demeaning to her. This type of photo posting is more common than most adults realize. Her response to our concern was “What? Like, there are millions of MySpace users. What are the chances that someone is gonna find me?” Attitudes like that serve to put youngsters at greater risk in all their online interactions. Exercise 7.1—Social Networking Basics has students evaluate their activities and uses of social networking sites, identifying positive and negative factors of the sites. It also provides a list of social networking issues to consider such as lack of trust and Safe Practices for Life Online
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Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
CHAPTER 7
Social Networking
privacy, deceptive marketing scams, exposure to harassment, and lack of control over what others post. Exercise 7.2—Evaluating Social Networking Pages presents students with some steps to evaluate social networking sites to see if they are appropriate for student participation.
Fraud on Social Networks Because social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace attract tens of thousands of teens and are predicated on trust and socializing, they’ve become prime targets Scammers are using sophisticated for unscrupulous people software tools to target social networks. of all types. Every “Mass friend adder” programs can social network user target a specific demographic of account needs to raise his or holders with a photo and query that her awareness of the looks like it’s coming from a real person. many varied types of Fake pages pushing bogus products not fraud that target them. only look real but also use sophisticated software “bots” that will actually Exercise 7.3—Fraud carry on a conversation with visitors. on Social Networks explores some of the most well known causes of fraud that target social network users. This exercise should help increase student awareness and promote safe practices while on social networking sites.
Is It Really Private? Many people are searching social networking sites. Social networks are being searched by police, college admissions officers, private high school admissions directors, employers, directors of intern
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Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
Social Networking
CHAPTER 7
programs, scholarship committees, summer camp directors, the military, athletic associations, and other adults who are trying to evaluate an individual. Unfortunately, there have been some very real, negative consequences for students who have posted photos or other content revealing illegal activities or embarrassing or The Ad Council and National Center inappropriate behavior. for Missing & Exploited Children have teamed up to produce two Some reported examples: • Duke University
has denied admission based on content found on a high school student’s MySpace page. (personal communication)
• An Abbotsford High
excellent videos that bring attention to the lack of privacy online and the potential consequences. Visit Cybertipline.com: • Think Before You Post (http://tcs.cybertipline.com/psa/ BulletinBoard_60.mov) • Everyone Knows Your Name (http://tcs.cybertipline.com/psa/ Everyone_60.mov)
School student, in Canada, was expelled for threatening to kick a teacher. The posting appeared on his Facebook page, and he claimed it was a joke. (Luymes, 2007)
• Fisher College, in Boston, expelled two students for making
plans to target and harass a Fisher employee. (Schweitzer, 2005)
• Oxford University, in England, charged a student with
disorderly conduct based on evidence found on the student’s Facebook account. (Gosden, 2007)
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Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
CHAPTER 7
Social Networking
• Valdosta State University, in Georgia, expelled a student for
posting content on his Facebook account that was interpreted as threatening. (Guess, 2008)
• Louisiana State University removed two students from its
swim team after they posted disparaging remarks about one of their coaches. (Camire, 2007)
• Southern Illinois University, in Edwardsville, brought
disciplinary charges against a student for creating a Facebook page dedicated to fictitious claims of an intimate relationship with another student. (Savo, 2007)
• Iowa Western Community College expelled a student who
said on his MySpace page that other students “needed to be shot.” (Fischman, 2007)
Private Pages aren’t Private! Over the years hackers have created numerous methods to break into private pages. Phishers have artfully captured IDs and passwords using phony e-mails, and unsuspecting users have actually given their login information to scammers through third party software they’re conned into installing. Many teens consider it a violation for adults to view their social networking sites. Often they’ll cite privacy rights in arguments to parents. In reality, however, everything online is public. There is no assumption of privacy online, and once a site is visited everything can be copied and used by the visitor. Every year there continued 118
Safe Practices for Life Online
Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
Social Networking
CHAPTER 7
are news reports about someone who was publicly humiliated when content from their “private” social networking pages became public! Survey data and informal research suggest that as many as 90% of the strangers who knock on the private doors of social network accounts are let in! Do your students let strangers into their accounts? Ask them: Is it possible that the people you, and others on your network, allow in are not who they say they are? College admissions officers and human resources departments have specifically searched social networks for information about college applicants and candidates for jobs. Some students have been denied entry into colleges or passed over for jobs because of content they posted on their “private” pages. Conduct an anonymous survey. Hand out slips of paper to your students in Grades 8 and higher. Tell them that this survey is completely anonymous and ask for volunteers to count the results. Ask your students two questions: 1.
Have you ever had an account on a social network?
2.
Have you ever “friended” a stranger or allowed a stranger to view your private pages? Remind them that a “friend of a friend” is still a stranger!
Have students collect and collate the answers. You may be surprised at just how many students regularly befriend complete strangers online. Safe Practices for Life Online
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Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
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Social Networking
With very little effort students can find a plethora of articles detailing severe consequences for both middle and high school students for posting what they thought was private information on their social networks. Exercise 7.4—Consider the Consequences asks students to conduct research into the consequences faced by students because of what they posted on their social network accounts. You can also have students vary their search strings by substituting words for “expel,” such as arrest, charged, and discipline. The primary point to emphasize with students is that nothing is private online, not even their password-protected social network pages. Links to many similar incidents recounted in news stories can be found in the resources section at the end of this chapter. While most of these examples are about college students, there are numerous examples of consequences suffered by middle and high school students as well. Read the article posted at USA Today titled, “What you say online could haunt you,” by Janet Kornblum and Mary Beth Marklein (www.usatoday.com/tech/news/ internetprivacy/2006-03-08-facebook-myspace_x.htm). Teens can use social networking sites safely if they follow appropriate guidelines. Exercise 7.5—Social Networking Safety Guidelines helps students determine the best methods and behaviors for presenting themselves appropriately on social networking sites.
Social Networking for Younger Students Child-oriented sites such as Club Penguin and Webkinz entice children as young as six with fun interactive graphics, games, and the ability to connect to other children. Children become 120
Safe Practices for Life Online
Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
Social Networking
CHAPTER 7
infatuated early with the thrill of social networking and connecting with friends online. While these sites for younger children have many safety options available to parents, children visiting these sites still report harassing language, exposure to pornography, and bullying. Another concern is the gateway factor that the childoriented sites provide through early exposure to the experience of social networking. This exposure can encourage children as young as nine or ten to flock to MySpace, Facebook, and other adultoriented sites.
Are Social Networking Sites for Children Safe? Clever marketing combined with peer influence has rocketed websites such as Club Penguin and Webkinz to remarkable popularity. Along with long-time staple sites such as Runescape and Neopets, these sites are attracting many students in eighth grade and younger. Though they might not admit it, our research shows that a significant number of middle school students visit social networks designed for younger children. There is no clear evidence that older students are more prone to harassing younger students at these sites. However, it is important for parents and students to know that just because a website is designed and marketed to young children, it doesn’t mean that young children are the only ones using the website. While some of these sites offer various levels of parental controls or software/human moderation, we’ve heard many examples of children finding ways around such controls and moderation. For example, children long ago learned that vulgar remarks are likely to be caught by “bots” that monitor their conversations. They’ve learned, however, that disguised comments can easily bypass the filters. The meaning of “Ur a $tup!d j’rk! Im guna kyl u” or “U $ck” is quite clear, but not as likely to be noticed by a software filter. Safe Practices for Life Online
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Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
CHAPTER 7
Social Networking
Exercise 7.6—Social Networking for Children: Rules and Risks looks at social network sites designed for younger children and asks students to discuss risks, rules and appropriate online behavior. Children and parents have told us about abuse, harassment, bullying, trickery, exposure to pornography, and sexual conversations occurring on these sites. In fact, some might argue that because these sites are designed for younger children, they may even attract pedophiles. Though sites such as these may make an honest effort to keep children safe, there are no guarantees. Young children are the age group most vulnerable to abuse because they’re naïve and inexperienced. They’re least likely to recognize abuse, and they lack the skills to deal with it. On these sites, children can interact with strangers in public spaces, and sometimes in private spaces as well. Children have also been tricked into giving out personal information, such as e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and even physical addresses. Exercise 7.7—What to Do When… asks students to share their stories of negative online experiences and as a group determine the best methods for response. Exercise 7.8—Creating an Internet Safety PSA has students create a public service announcement that will help draw attention to a social networking problem and present how best to respond to negative online experiences.
Migration to Teen and Adult Social Networks Thousands of student surveys show that there’s a growing trend for children to migrate from child-oriented social networks to the “real” social networks. This migration seems to begin in earnest around seventh and eighth grades, but children as young as nine have reported having accounts on MySpace. This is very disturbing because the teen and adult social networks are not healthy or safe places for children. Children using social networks such as 122
Safe Practices for Life Online
Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
Social Networking
CHAPTER 7
MySpace, Facebook and Xanga are at high risk for exposure to inappropriate images, graphic language, strangers, abuse, and deceptive marketing ploys. The Illinois attorney general’s office posted a July 2007 press release on the topic of social networks for children. It was titled “Gateway” Websites Target Younger Children for Social Networking and Chatting Online with Strangers. This worthwhile release is available at www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/pressroom/2007_ 07/20070731.html.
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Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
Doug Fodeman has been the Director of Technology at Brookwood School, a PK–8 school in Eastern Massachusetts, since 1996. Fodeman has given workshops on a wide variety of related topics such as using search engines effectively, protecting your privacy online, and telecollaboration. In addition, he taught high school science for 18 years beginning in 1979 and served as Director of Technology at the Pingree School. Fodeman has been a guest speaker on several radio shows including WBZ in Boston and WLS-AM in Chicago and appeared on both ABC World News Tonight and the CBS Evening News on the topic of cell phone scams targeting children and issues affecting children online. Marje Monroe is a clinical social worker and educator with more than 20 years of counseling, programming, and teaching experience in schools. Most recently the Dean of Students at Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Western Massachusetts, Monroe has worked at five schools including as Director of Counseling at Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Marje has served as Counselor and Substance Abuse Coordinator at Wittenberg University and as Executive Director of the Winnetka, Illinois, Youth Center. Throughout her career, Monroe has developed curricula on sex education, substance abuse, ethics, and decision making. January 2009 150 pp. 5½ x 8½ 41 b/w illustrations Product code: LIFEON 978-1-56484-248-0 Order now by phone, by fax, or online. Single copy price is $29.95. ISTE member price is $20.95. Special bulk pricing is available. Call 1.800.336.5191 or go to www.iste.org/lifeon. .
Copyright 2009, ISTE ® (International Society for Technology in Education), Safe Practices for Life Online, Doug Fodeman and Marje Monroe. 1.800.336.5191 or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Distribution and copying of this excerpt is allowed for educational purposes and use with full attribution to ISTE.
