Journal # 7 - Social Networks and Security Issues

I've been doing a lot of research lately about youth and social networks for my classes.  One of the issues that's come up in our class group discussions and in some of the research is the issue of security.  Social networking security and privacy issues are a tricky thing.  On the one hand you want to share all your information with your friends and family.  On the other, you don't want to open yourself up as an easy target for identity thieves and hackers. 

So what's a person to do? Cancel their account? Not likely with 590 million users worldwide as of February 2011 according to Google.  According to Blue Coat's 2011 Security Report, social networking sites are becoming a prime hunting ground for malware to obtain access to a user's credentials which (because we use the same passwords and info on multiple accounts) are then used to access our online banking and other online accounts.  Facebook is now the 4th is one of the top 10 targets of phishing according to Blue Coat.  And the information they're going for is different then you might think and disguised as our friends.  Just check out Kristof's article (3/18/2011) on Biggest Facebook Security Threats, she lists some prime examples any of us could (or have) fallen for at the bottom.  

Blue Coat's Security Report states that the rise in social networking use is leading to a rise in security treats found on social networks.  Livingstone's (2008) article about teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression states that teens are aware of their need for privacy measures, yet are lacking the the technological knowledge to select the appropriate settings on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.  It seems to me that libraries are in a prime position to help educate teens and adults about Internet security measures, Facebook settings and design, and social networking usage tips. 

Journal Reference
Livingstone, S. (2008). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: Teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media & Society, 10(3), 393-411.

Social networking too young?

 Reflection: "How COPPA fails parents, educators, youth" by Boyd & "Social Networking for the 10 and under crowd" by S. Jackson

Subjects: Social Networks, Tweens, Children, COPPA, parental permission requirements

Reading over the articles by Boyd and Jackson got me thinking about the pros and cons of tween social networking.  Tweens are easily able to communicate with family, friends, and institutions such as libraries and schools but become more vulnerable to online predators and cyber-bullying.  If parents keep tweens from accessing social networks, then they run the risk of tweens setting up accounts without adult knowledge or falling behind in developing valuable computer skills.  So what’s a parent to do?  I’m inclined to say that each parent should look at their own child’s development, talk to them about Internet safety, and seek out tween friendly sites.  But I also know that nothing is that simple.

            YALSA (2008) suggests multiple ways that schools and libraries can use social networking to promote tween participation, reading skills, and gather suggestive feedback for services.  They suggest setting up accounts on Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter to blog about library programs, author books, and library resources.  But to use many of those social networking accounts you need to over 13 years of age.  I had assumed this was because of safety issues protecting minors from online predators.  But Boyd’s article argues that the good intention of COPPA was to protect children’s privacy from corporations, not safety from individuals.  COPPA solved this problem by requiring companies to gain parental consent for anyone 13 and under.  Companies responded by requiring users to indicate they were over 13 years of age and therefore not needing parental permission.  From the tweens and teens I know, they responded by lying and clicking the ‘yes, I am over 13’ button, sometimes with parent permission.

            So what are the options?  Jackson suggests that parents try out social networks, such as Togetherville.com, specifically designed for the younger age group.  Sites that require parental permission, screen postings for inappropriateness, and are designed with child safety in mind not just social networking and minimum COPPA compliance.  So do I think an 8 year needs to be online using a social network? I’m still not sure but if they are then I hope it’s through online networks that are focused on a child’s fun and safety as well as parent participation such as AllyKatzz.com, Beaconstreetgirls.com, or Clubpenguin.com. 

Cell Phones, Texting and Tween Friendships

Reflection of the article: How does technology affect kids' friendships? by H. Stout (April 30, 2010).

Subjects: Social Networking, Digital Technology, Tween Friendships, Cell Phones, Texting

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that tweens today are hard wired into the technology.  Youth, ages 8 to 18, spend more than seven and a half hours a day on a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device according to an ongoing national survey conducted in 2009 by the Kaiser Family Foundation.  The Pew Reasearch Center’s study on teens, cell phones, and texting (2010) found that 75 percent of 12 to 17 year-olds own cell phones with half of those teens sending more than 50 text messages a day.  Parents and researchers alike are worried about the more negative aspects of online interactions that tweens are experiencing, such as cyber-bullying and sexting.  Links between technology and a child’s intellectual development has long been debated.  Some college students show signs of withdrawal similar to drug addicts when going without a social media connection (Dominus, 2010).

But children are being affected by technology in other subtle and less traumatic ways.    Stout (April 20, 2010) discusses how digital technology is changing the ways in which tweens and teens are interacting with one another and their ability to develop meaningful friendships.  Gone are the days of waiting to talk to a friend at school or calling them from a landline.  Today’s teens and tweens have cell phones and Facebook accounts with which they instantly message their friends and update their statuses, letting everyone know exactly what they’re doing.  I believe that this constant connection allows tweens multiple opportunities to be closer longer their friends.  I don’t believe that technology interferes with a child’s ability to build close childhood friendships.  I believe it only changes how those relationships are built and maintained.   

I’m not so sure that I agree with the sources Stout cites about the quality of face-to-face interactions and the emotional depth of those interactions being diminished.  Adults remember the days of talking for hours on the phone with a single friend.  Tweens today can chat with multiple people at a time.  They are adept multi-taskers who perform better than excepted when faced with distractions (Jayson, 2010).  Tweens today are already moving past regular texting and emails and using services like Skype to video chat with their friends.  This growing trend towards video chatting is likely to re-strengthen those facial recognition skills that Stouts sources said were weakening.  Tweens are social creatures and technology offers a way for tweens to become even more social. 

Tweens and Technology

This week in class we started discussing the role of technology in tween's lives and how their experiences with technology differ from our own.  I feel that today's tweens have a lot of access and interaction with technology.  Sitting in my local library's young adult area after school has let out, it seems that not one of the many teens walking, talking, and sitting in the area are without a cell phone, mp3 device, or laptop.

This is extremely different from when I was a teen.  My family had just purchased a family computer during my tween years.  These days it seems a lot of teens have access to their own personal computer, usually a family hand-me-down.  My access to the computer was limited to school work and some educational games.  We didn't have Internet access as it was too much of a luxury and not as needed back then for homework and such.  Today's teens use the computer and Internet for homework, online gaming, and social networking.  I remember running down to the drugstore to develop photos.  Today's teens can take a picture email it to everyone they know or send it directly to their printer all within minutes.  As Miller states in her article, "The ever changing world of teen trends," the days of note passing are over as today's information is instantaneously delivered through email accounts, Facebook posts and news feeds.

In a New York Times Article titled "If your kids are awake, they're probably online," Lewin argues that the results of Kaiser Family Foundation Study show that American tweens and teens are spending almost every waking moment using some sort of electronic device.  The study found that youth ages 8 to 18 are spending more than 7.5 hours a day with a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device.  Only five years ago, the previous study had estimated that time to be 6.5 hours.  Can we expect that time to grow by another hour in another five years?  Know any teens that choose their cell phone or computer over sleep sometimes?

The numbers are shocking when we actually write them down, but I for one am not surprised.    Parents need to ensure children are aware of safety issues and practice good online behaviors.  They need to provide clear rules about when media use is okay and when it isn't.  I agree with Lewin that even though teens are consuming a large amount of media, parents still can have an effect on how that media is consumed and in what amount.