Thursday, February 7, 2008
Myspace free speech or pain in the a$$?
I agree that the first amendment is a very important right, but where does one draw the line? Looking at MySpace I have found people post personal information about themselves; fine, but no one has the right to post personal information about others. I have found other personal information about myself and others posted on people's pages, even my relatives will post pictures that should have mysteriously caught on fire. This upsets me because I found pictures of my children on MySpace with their names next to the pictures. Maybe I am being a little too overprotective but it just seems creepy for people to see my kids in public, know their names and who they are related to. MySpace is a haven for sexual predators, stalkers, and other criminals. All the information one needs is provided on the first page. Some do not even need to talk to the victim. People post their names, city that they live in, and age. Sometimes that it all a person needs to know to find you. Don't get me wrong it has some benefits. I found the girl who hit my car on MySpace because she had posted the city where she lives. The CHP would not even give me that information, so I filed a complaint and she was served with a subpoena to appear in court. Without MySpace that would have been virtually impossible. See, how easy it was for me to find someone!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
As the parent of a teenager, I have horror stories about Myspace! Someone made an entire page using photos of my daughter which were copied from her real page and said where we live, where she went to school and all sorts of untrue really nasty commentary such as how much she likes to do drugs, sleep around, etc. I contacted the local police who are unable to do anything. Myspace was finally able to remove the page but do they reprimand the person who does this? I'm sure they have the technology to track the person down. On the other hand, it has been fun to use Myspace to chat with a few friends who are out of area and also to be able to see what my daughter and her friends are doing. Just be sure that you and your family and friends have made their pages "private" which does not allow those who are not in your approved friends to view. That might make you a little less nervous about the postings you mentioned with personal photos, etc.
I do not have kids, but understand the issues of Myspace. When I first got it years ago I thought it would be a great way to keep in contact with friends and family, but now I think it may be more of a hassle than it should be. I recently learned that now if someone applies for a job, the interviewer will usually look at the interviewee's Myspace to see what kind of a person they are. I was shocked when I heard this. I thought that this is a huge violation of privacy and if the person had a good interview, resume and appearance that should be good enough. But then as I thought about it, I realized that if it is online and being shown to the world, it is not a violation of their privacy because it is already out there. It also made me come to the realization that other people that I did not know were probably looking at my Myspace. I became so fearful that I would loose my identification or personal privacy that I changed everything on my page to private. But still, with all the hackers out there, it still makes me wonder if it is worth it.
yup myspace is kinda freaky sometimes!!!
I agree, it is very easy to get information on myspace. It also scares me when I see all these young girls (like my 13 year old cousin)posting pictures of themselves in bikinis, or sexual things like sucking there finger or whatever. It makes me wonder...do their parents know about this? should it be legal for kids that young to even have a myspace?
Post a Comment