An article about Social networks, risks and what is to be done

Social Networks or Online Communities have become an integral part of the lives of many teenagers today. Social Networking is a term used to describe the fairly recent breed of websites, also referred to as online communities. These sites generally enable their subscribers to post a journal and various forms of media content, to generate and maintain relationships with other participants, and to engage in discussions around common interests with others.
Some of the most popular social networks are in the U.S. are MySpace, Xanda, LiveJournal, BlackPlanet, MiGente, AsianAvenue, Bolt, Hi5, Facebook, and Friendster.

These sites encourage and enable people to exchange information about themselves, share pictures and videos, and use blogs and private messaging to communicate with friends, others who share interests, and sometimes even the world-at-large. There are some real dangers involved, as there are in off-line aspects of a young person’s life. And that’s why it’s important to be aware of the possible pitfalls that come with networking online.

Some social networking sites attract pre-teens — even kids as young as 5 or 6. These younger-focused sites don’t allow the same kinds of communication that teens and adults have, but there are still things that parents can do to help young kids socialize safely online. Parents sometimes can feel outpaced by their technologically savvy kids. Technology aside, there are lessons that parents can teach to help kids stay safer as they socialize online.

But rather than attempting to deny access and participation in this form of online socializing, we suggest that with some common sense, open, calm dialogue, and simple guidelines, participation in an online community can be a safe and enriching experience.
Be the person who initiated the child in using computers and Internet. Children must know that can discuss any topic with their parents. Positive aspects of the Internet and negative also. Talking with your teens about appropriate behavior is just as important online as it is in the real world. Having an open dialogue is the best way to help your kids make safe choices in relation to their use of online communities.

Reasons to be concerned!
*Visibility
Teenagers, a significant proportion of users of these sites, are not always aware that the materials that they load on these sites are visible to anyone who has a computer. That`s why the comments, data or images posted on these sites are not in any way, private.
*Supervision
To ensure that these sites are used in a rational and reflective way by children, parents need to know which services are used by their children and what are their usernames. Today, most parents don`t know any of this information.
*Unwanted visitors
A magnet for teenagers, these sites represent a real attraction also for those persons which parents don`t want to see around their children. We`re talking about pedophiles, about people who are dealing with child pornography, which are recruiting children for extremist groups or are promoting dysfunctional attitudes like self-mutilation or suicide.
You can use Parental Control Software for monitoring and filtering children`s online activity (like http://www.applicationblocker.com)

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