MySpace is a free online community made up of personal profiles aimed primarily at younger members. A profile on the site typically includes a digital photo and detailed information about the member’s personal interests. The amount of data included in the profile is the responsibility of the user and is given voluntarily. MySpace policy requires users to be at least 14 years of age to join. Members routinely message each other and “network” or socialize in the community.
Friends use MySpace and other social networking sites to stay connected when they’re not physically together.
MySpace’s format makes it easy for anyone to submit profile information, even if they have little online experience. While the domain proved incredibly popular, reportedly hosting over 60 million profiles, it too came under attack. The concern is that the vast majority of members may be too inexperienced to realize the potential danger of posting personal information online. Some profiles contain not just a picture, but also the user’s first and last name, location, and details like favorite music and foods. This information allows a predator to easily target and befriend a victim.
MySpace members can complete the “survey” detailing their tobacco, alcohol and drug use.
MySpace members can also choose to complete “the survey.” The survey asks questions such as whether the member has ever had sex, swam naked, smoked, drank alcohol, or used drugs. Members who post on MySpace expect their profiles to be read by kids their age, explaining the often suggestive responses and key innuendos typical of teenage bravery. Provocative or not, these profiles provide a “protected” hunting ground where potential predators can pick, stalk, and befriend victims unseen. Backed by a plethora of personal information, the predator can easily manipulate the potential victim into a false sense of security and familiarity, all the while misrepresenting themselves through their own fake profile. Although prohibited by the site, fake profiles are practically impossible to avoid within the framework.
In some cases, MySpace members introduce themselves when asked. For example, in February 2006, CBS reported that a 14-year-old girl was approached by a 38-year-old man for sex on MySpace. The man was later arrested when police assumed the girl’s identity as she unknowingly continued to ask for sex.
Other MySpace members were not so lucky. Several reports from the United States have linked the site to children who were killed or disappeared. Just before Judy CFIT, 14, of New Jersey, was murdered in January 2006, the girl apparently told her friends that she met a 20-year-old man through MySpace. Similarly, Kayla Reed, 15, from Northern California, would have been an active member of the site until the day she disappeared on December 2, 2005. Her body was found seven weeks later, a murder victim.
While the connection of these and many other reports to MySpace may just be a coincidence, the implication is troubling. Due to growing concern, in April 2006, MySpace announced that it would begin running public information announcements intended to educate its users. The banners are part of a broader campaign that began in 2004, initiated by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Additionally, beginning May 1, 2006, Hemanshu Nigan, a former federal prosecutor specializing in child exploitation, began overseeing MySpace’s security division. Nigan previously worked for Microsoft Corporation, developing computing strategies designed to better protect children.
Despite online safety strategies, parents are encouraged to take an active role in protecting their children from online predators.
Young people, like teenagers, make up the majority of MySpace profiles.
