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MySpace.com shows some teens not so 'Net-savvy Posted: Wednesday, Mar 08, 2006 - 03:24:15 pm PST By Ethan Smith Leader Staff
It's a popular place for teens to hang out at, but a perusal of dozens of MySpace.com sites shows that many local teens might not be as Internet-savvy as they think they are, with many of them posting personal information that could jeopardize their safety, cause them to get kicked off a high school sports team or in many cases, reveal more about them than their parents might prefer. MySpace.com, the popular Web site that allows individuals to post their own biographies in words and pictures, has attracted millions of users around the world, and a significant portion of those are teenagers. A search of the site revealed that dozens of Lake County teens from Arlee to Polson have their own Web pages listed there, and while 90 percent of it is good, clean, harmless content, it's the other 10 percent that could raise some eyebrows.A majority of the teens' sites are usually devoted to listing their favorite, food, music, sports and other preferences, but one of the most popular features is the site's "comments page," which is essentially an online bulletin board where people can leave comments for each other. Those comments can be read by that person immediately or when they log on next -- and can be read by anyone else scrolling through their personal page, as well, unless the user takes steps to set up privacy features found on the site. Specifically, just by searching MySpace.com for a few hours, a Leader reporter was able to:
Read messages students left each other about whose parents were going to be out of town that weekend and where a party would be held, including one female student who attempted to set up a romantic meeting between one of her friends and a guy she was interested in at the home of a student whose parents were gone for the weekend; View student athletes' sites, where they uploaded pictures of themselves wearing their varsity uniforms, and also have pictures of themselves at parties, surrounded by people who are drinking, a violation of the contract they sign before each sports season that could get them suspended from the team; And read personal information students had posted about themselves that included history about their romantic life, their favorite alcoholic drinks, where they got drunk last weekend, and in some cases, whose house it was at, as well as highly personal observations about their classmates. Most of the students who use MySpace.com have more sensible information posted there, and locally, students with sites there say its a good way to keep in touch with friends without emailing everyone individually. It's also a good way to stay in touch with friends who live out of the area or who graduated in years past, students say. Charlo High School senior Rhondell Esterby uses her site to send and receive messages with her new teammates at the University of Great Falls, where she will be playing volleyball next year. She set up her site a few weeks ago, in part to keep in touch with out-of-town friends, she said. "It's a good way to make friends and communicate with them. If you don't have instant messaging, you can add a comment there and communicate that way," Esterby said. "I use it to keep in touch with friends from Philipsburg, and my teammates in Great Falls." Esterby and other students interviewed for this article don't have any objectionable material on their sites, and the interviews were conducted with their parents' permission. Esterby said she was surprised at some of the things students put on their sites, especially student athletes who post pictures of themselves at parties, and comments about drinking -- things that could get them suspended from their team. "I do think about that. Why would you put yourself in the danger of being removed from the team?" she said. Polson High School senior Whitney Pitts also uses MySpace.com to communicate with friends. She said her mom had reservations about posting information on the site, but felt better after hearing that the family's church pastor and wife also use the site to communicate with friends and family. "My friends use it, but my pastor and his wife have it, too, so that was what made her think it was OK," Pitts said. Pitts said her mother has her user name and password, and so she can check Pitts' site at any time to see what she has posted there, and also what messages friends have left for her. MySpace.com has certain privacy functions, including the ability to limit who can see your space, but many students interviewed said they had a difficult time enabling those features, and a Leader reporter was able to view dozens of sites without even having a MySpace.com user name and password simply by accessing one student's site and using that as a portal to other students. Many Polson students have links to Ronan students, who have links to Mission and Charlo students, who in turn have links to Arlee students through one of the most popular features, the list of "friends" on each site. MySpace.com allows users to accept and reject who is listed as a "friend" on their site, and most students have dozens of friends listed - one of the most popular features of the site. By accessing one site, you can view dozens more simply by clicking on their list of friends. "My mom can look and see who my friends are. It's funny because she probably checks the site more than I do," Pitts said. "I check it two or three times a week." Pitts said the "friends" feature allowed her to catch up with a friend who is now in the Army because she found a link to his site through another mutual friend's site. "The thing I really like are the friends who graduate and went off to college, and I can stay in touch with them. I had one friend in the Army who I hadn't talked to in months, and I found his site through a friend who had graduated," Pitts said. Ronan High School junior Tylar Espinosa said he keeps in touch with other student athletes he meets from around the state, and friends from out of the area, as well as local friends. He said he usually uses the comments feature to send and receive messages, but doesn't really worry about other people reading those comments. "I don't really think about it, honestly," he said. He said he often sees other students with questionable material on their sites, especially student athletes who are held to a higher standard by the school district, but that it is limited to a small percentage of students. "Some kids have it [objectionable material] but not too often. I usually don't say anything to them about it," he said. Espinosa's younger brother also has a site on MySpace.com, and Espinosa said he would probably keep an eye on his younger sister's content when she's old enough to use the site. "If they use it safely, it's fine. I would just have my sister be careful about who she talks to. If she put our phone number or address on there I'd probably have her take it down," Espinosa said. "There's some odd people out there." MySpace.com has come under criticism because, although the site says it should only be used for people 14 and older, there's no age verification process that users have to go through so there's nothing to prevent younger students from posting information, too. Pitts said increased awareness of online safety has caused her to rethink what information she puts online. She said she reconsidered some of the information she originally had online in an effort to protect her safety. "In light of all the stuff that could happen, I try to be really careful. I went in and changed a lot of information, about my hometown and stuff like that. I put the bare minimum of info on it," Pitts said. Many students aren't as cautious. A Leader reporter was able to view the names and hometowns of dozens of female students, including their high school, grade and other details that could make it easier for someone to locate them. Pitts said she was surprised at how much information other Polson students had posted online. "When we started looking, we saw a lot of personal information that shouldn't be up there," she said. Pitts and Esterby both said they don't spend nearly as much time communicating via their site as other students do. "Some people spend so much time on it. Honestly, I think it can be a waste of time," Pitts said. "I don't really spend that much time on it, but you see some students who do. I log onto it maybe once or twice a week," Esterby said. Pitts said she doesn't have a problem with her mother reading her online information. It just makes good sense, and helps protect her safety, she said. "I understand why she wants to do it and I think it's a good idea," Pitts said.
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