Can Anyone Tell Me Anything Good About MYSPACE.COM??

[momrek06]

My sister (54y.o.) has allowed her DD (17y.o) to create her own site on MYSPACE.COM. I and all of my family members, mom, dad, siblings...are outraged. My sis has allowed all of dd's pictures on the site, along with a FAKE name and a FAKE home address...I have NOT heard anything good about MYSPACE.COM. Our bro is a COL in USARMY and his son is PFC in Army over in IRAQ and COL has requested that sis take his son's pic off the site. When my bro went to access the site from work (Army) it came up on the screen "DOD does not allow access to this site"....bro could not even go on the site. Now sis is MAD AS HE$$ at bro (who has just return from 2 years in IRAQ) about the pictures on the site and now sis will NOT speak to bro. She has emailed all of us and told us all to "BACK OFF"! That she knows everything that dd is doing all the time....mind you she is divorced and works NIGHTS 10pm-6am and dd is home all alone....ugh....

READ SOME OF THEIR SECRET LANGUAGE: POS means "parent over shoulder", 143 declares "I love you". ILOL means "in love online", ASL = age, sex, location and GET THIS ONE: LMIRL "let's meet in real life"....

OMG!!!!!!!!! They can use swear words and risque pictures as well. Our town is cracking down BIG on this and a recent Officer was quoting as saying
"don't share anything online that you wouldn't share with a stranger at the Mall!"
Please share your thoughts with me on this...I am so hopping to get my absoutely adorable niece off this SITE!!!!!!!!

 

[vivilasvegas]

She's not your daughter, so you can't really do anything.


I know tons of people who use my-space. They are even in their 20's and 30's, gasp!! Bands, email, funny messages, keeping in touch, the site is good for all of that.

It's not just a board for sexual predators, and kids can't do anything that they couldn't already do in emails and chat rooms.

 

[Mi3stooges]

In a large nut shell....NO! A friend just emailed me a story about it and I do belive there have been some stories (Not so good) about My space on a few tv shows, like Good Morinig America or something like that. If I can get it again, I will post the link. My daughter's (almost 14 and 12) will not have one. Their friends do and I've read many of them...very scary, that the parents are not monitoring them. One girl even had handcuffs and razor blades posted....what was that for and why would her parents let her have that on there or did they even know??!!! And the personal pictures???OMG!!!!
I'm sure there are people who have better experiences, but I do think they (the kids) need to be monitored.

You know, you did say the daughter is 17, that might be an age where they might be a "little" more mature (than my daughter and her friends) At 18 they are an adult...right??!!

 

[MouseWorshipin]

OMG!!!!!!!!! They can use swear words and risque pictures as well.

And they can link to porn. It is against the rules, but they do it.

My neighbor's daughter had an account here and her parents blocked it. Then she used my computer to access it. I had no idea until I got my parental controls report and investigated. After three clicks, I had linked to porn. I talked to her mom, having no idea that she'd been blocked at home, and Boy Howdy, was she upset.

I don't think it is all that bad for upper teens and twenties. They have the sense to not put personal info out there. If it is just used to talk to pals and have cute pages (and some of those pages really ARE adorable), no biggie.

The thing that frightens me is little kids. This girl was 11 and had posted her name, picture, school she went to, names of friends, and things she liked. Yikes.

 

[LisaNJ25]

She's not your daughter, so you can't really do anything.


I know tons of people who use my-space. They are even in their 20's and 30's, gasp!! Bands, email, funny messages, keeping in touch, the site is good for all of that.

It's not just a board for sexual predators, and kids can't do anything that they couldn't already do in emails and chat rooms.

I am 31 with a myspace page. I have got in contact with people I went to high school with. Nothing sexual there.

I have seen some crazy pages, saw a friends 17yo daughter with 3 smokes in her mouth at once Not cool.

I do have pics of my hubby and kids on mine.

If kids want to act out they can do it all over the internet, the dont need myspace. the can use their secret language on aol and other messaging services.

My 13yo son has one and i check it daily and I also know his password.

 

[Mi3stooges]

I am 31 with a myspace page. I have got in contact with people I went to high school with. Nothing sexual there.

I have seen some crazy pages, saw a friends 17yo daughter with 3 smokes in her mouth at once Not cool.

I do have pics of my hubby and kids on mine.

If kids want to act out they can do it all over the internet, the dont need myspace. the can use their secret language on aol and other messaging services.

My 13yo son has one and i check it daily and I also know his password.

You have restored my faith..thank you!

 

[Buttercup26]

There is nothing on Myspace that kids can't find elsewhere. The problem isn't with Myspace it's with parents who don't monitor and pay attention to what their kids are doing. My DD is 13 and has a Myspace account, I check her page regularly and she knows what is appropriate and what is not.

There is a lot of bad stuff out there, on the internet, at the mall, at school, parents need to give their kids the skills and confidence to make good choices. Blocking them from certain websites isn't necessarily the answer.

 

[LoraJ]

It seems like half of the people I work with have a Myspace page. And most are in their 30's.

There's nothing wrong with myspace. What's wrong are the way some people use it.

By using a fake address and name, sounds like your niece is being smart about her page.

 

[disneynutt1225]

Personally, I think myspace has gotten a really bad rap. You're only going to hear about the bad stuff in the media as far as that's concerned. It's no different than kids logging in to chat rooms, and there they can get into far worse trouble (in my experience).

I have a myspace page and I'm 25 years old. Most of the people in my friends list are my age or older, with the exception of my 17 year old brother. Now, while I disagree with some of the things that he's posted, or others have posted on his page, he really isn't doing anything that another typical teen wouldn't do.

I've networked with people that graduated from my high school, attend my college, and other people interested in DVC. No hidden agenda, no nasty grams, no one calling my phone number (even though it's not posted, people could probably look me up if they wanted to).

That's my experience with myspace. As long as someone is monitoring their child's usage, I don't see a problem with it.

 

[mainewmn]

DS 15 has myspace account and its no different then other blog rings. He knows I monitor his account and I also know his passwords. He is fine with it because there isn’t anything on there he wouldn’t want me to see. As long as parents done their duty tought their kids right from wrong and continue to guide their kids I don’t think it’s a big deal.

 

[momrek06]

It seems like half of the people I work with have a Myspace page. And most are in their 30's.

There's nothing wrong with myspace. What's wrong are the way some people use it.

By using a fake address and name, sounds like your niece is being smart about her page.

Well you all are really starting to make me feel better...seriously, it appears from your reponses that MYSPACE is not to be blamed for the creeps of the world who chose to frequent the site. And that niece and sis made a good decision to change her name! UGH!!! See I am learning every day and I knew if I posted this about MYSPACE on the DIS Boards you all would help me to better understand all this...I kept hearing in the NEWS about pedophiles and pornographers having a field day winning over all these kids from MYSPACE!

Now to get bro and sis BACK TALKING is another thing....!!! I am going to be saving this entire post and all your replies to talk to my bro about easing up on sis and talking to sis about understanding where bro was coming from....ugh!!!!!!!

 

[marycaym]

My Space is OK if there are controls - kids only allow certain people to access it, etc. I have quite a few friends who have let their kids have them as long as they block the public access and let the parents see what they are posting. I have seen some of them and it is amazing what some kids post!

A local Philly news station did a story on My Space recently, they went online looked at different sites of kids and showed up at their houses, the parents had no idea it was that easy and were amazed at all the information kids were posting - their home addresses, school, workplace, etc.

Also, a local HS here just expelled a number of HS kids for showing pix of them with alcohol on their My Space pages, it goes against their school code.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

I have a MySpace account and keep in touch with friends all over the country.

I also have the minor siblings of friends on my MySpace so I can moniter them (of course they don't know I will rat them out if they have something inappropriate on their page).

MySpace has gotten a bad rap lately but it's nothing that kids haven't done before.

There is no required feild for your contact info (address, phone number).

The feilds for schools are not required.

143 was I love you when pagers were popular.

ILOL doesn't mean being *in love* on line is new.

Kids have always had ways of telling each other that a POS.

Linking to porn? Until recently going to whitehouse.com would take you to an adult site. You don't need MySpace to get access to porn.

And if it was the first time this officer has ever said "don't share anything online that you wouldn't share with a stranger at the Mall!" then he is way behind the times.

OP,
I don't know how *your town* can crack down on MySpace, it's a site on the internet and I highly doubt it is in any way, shape or form to ban a website within a town.

The DoD doesn't allow access to many different types of sites, not just MySpace. I bet he couldn't access the DIS, LiveJournal, Friendster or Xanga either.

There is nothing you can do about your neice being on MySpace. You are not her parent. And she is 17, so even if you did get her to shut her space down she can open it up again when she is 18 and there's not a thing anyone could do about it then. Actually the minimum age to join is 14.

Realx, educate yourself on the dangers of the internet, and you'll find that while MySpace is getting a bad rap these days there was another site before it, and one before that and one before that etc etc...

 

[PinkTink63]

My sister (54y.o.) has allowed her DD (17y.o) to create her own site on MYSPACE.COM. I and all of my family members, mom, dad, siblings...are outraged. My sis has allowed all of dd's pictures on the site, along with a FAKE name and a FAKE home address...I have NOT heard anything good about MYSPACE.COM. Our bro is a COL in USARMY and his son is PFC in Army over in IRAQ and COL has requested that sis take his son's pic off the site. When my bro went to access the site from work (Army) it came up on the screen "DOD does not allow access to this site"....bro could not even go on the site. Now sis is MAD AS HE$$ at bro (who has just return from 2 years in IRAQ) about the pictures on the site and now sis will NOT speak to bro. She has emailed all of us and told us all to "BACK OFF"! That she knows everything that dd is doing all the time....mind you she is divorced and works NIGHTS 10pm-6am and dd is home all alone....ugh....

READ SOME OF THEIR SECRET LANGUAGE: POS means "parent over shoulder", 143 declares "I love you". ILOL means "in love online", ASL = age, sex, location and GET THIS ONE: LMIRL "let's meet in real life"....

OMG!!!!!!!!! They can use swear words and risque pictures as well. Our town is cracking down BIG on this and a recent Officer was quoting as saying
"don't share anything online that you wouldn't share with a stranger at the Mall!"
Please share your thoughts with me on this...I am so hopping to get my absoutely adorable niece off this SITE!!!!!!!!

I'm sure that it is not all bad....but what I saw of it I did not care for! My neice (14) was on it at my house one time. I saw some pretty skanky pictures on there! I found out later, by my brother that she was not supposed to be on there!

The only other thing I know about "My Space" is: A young man that works at the store I work at was stabbed at a club on New Year's Eve. He did go on MS and he found out who stabbed him and almost killed him! Seems the ones involved were doing a little bragging on MS. (Something to really be proud of!) Sick!

Steph

 

[ashjohnson80]

I also have a myspace account and I'm 25. I Think with minors you should always be careful wherever they go on the internet. At least with myspace you can read the blogs and everything after they are written. When I was a teenager I was always in chat rooms and whatever I said would juts fade away and no one had any way of keeping an eye on me.

 

[lsyorke]

Realx, educate yourself on the dangers of the internet, and you'll find that while MySpace is getting a bad rap these days there was another site before it, and one before that and one before that etc etc...

Couldn't have said it better. There are thousand of other sites that are available... at least if they're on MySpace and you know it, you have some control. They could be on other sites and you'd never know. My son has had a myspace for years and was on another one prior to that. Educate your child, and if they aren't responsible enough to follow the rules, then the internet it not the place for them.

 

[momrek06]

To the Poster who mentioned I had said the Police were going to "crack down" on MYSPACE.....you are exactly RIGHT...I MISSPOKE(or mis-posted) anyway...what they are doing is holding a "COMMUNITY AWARENESS" evening at the local h.s. to invite everyone to educate parents AND children, teens through h.s. about potential dangers of technology from cellphones (?) to computers and there will be a discussion pertaining to MYSPACE. They are encouraging all to attend.

Just wanted to clear that up....and you are right, I am sure the Polcie cannot come into our homes and start control our computers BUT educate us is what they will do.

 

[foolishmortal]

Ok MYSPACE IS NOT AS BAD AS THE MEDIA HAS MADE IT!!!!!!!

There are far worse website out there.

MYSPACE is just the most popular right now so it gets the bad rap.

I have a myspace (I AM 30)...I use it to keep in touch with old high school friends I haven't seen in years....use it for local (and mainstream) music, and you can also use it to keep in touch with your fav actors from tv shows (Pam from the office is one of my friends).

Also a friend of mine is making an independent film and we have garnered interest just through the myspace site for it.

 

[MissPotatoHead]

One positive thing though....as for the settings, it can be set to "private" so that only the people you want to see your space, can!

 

[Divamomto3]

I think all the kids should set their profiles to private, so that only the friends that they know in real life can be added and access their page.

You may let your kid post a myspace with a fake hometown listed, but chances are that one of the profiles he lists as a friend or one of his comments will link to a kid in your town that DOES list the real hometown. It's not that hard to figure out. If my kid puts his hometown as "Nowhereland, USA" but all of his friends list Springfield, Illinois, and they all are talking back in forth about what happened in school today, obviously, my son lives in Springfield, Illinois also.