Social Networking Technologies: Here to Stay and It’s Really Okay
by Nancy Willard

Depending on whom you talk to in a school, social networking sites are either the most exciting new Internet platform yet —or the most dangerous and problematical.

So, let’s get my bias out right up front: I believe that social networking technologies offer incredibly exciting opportunities for interactive, engaging, high quality education. Further, knowing how to effectively participate in this environment is essential for careers, personal life activities, and civic engagement in the 21^st Century. But I also recognize that there are incredibly difficult issues related to the management of these new technologies in school.

Why is there such fear of social networking sites? I think there are two reasons:

1. This is a new technology that is allowing more people to engage in publication and communication, thus challenging the power of authority to control such information dissemination. Centuries ago, the Crown and the Church were highly concerned about the invention of the printing press. With good reason —this invention led to democracy and reformation.

2. Most of the current Internet safety guidance and news coverage is grounded in fear–mongering. Here is a statement from a recent NPR story:

"MySpace is a breeding ground for these sexual predators," says [a representative from a state Attorney General’s office], "and there are all sorts of cases happening now where predators have tracked down their victims off MySpace. And they abduct them, they will rape them, and do all sorts of things."

In fact, I have not seen any reports validating the accuracy of this statement and I have frequently asked those who make the statement to provide such evidence. The only research I have seen on this concern evaluated situations that led to arrest and revealed that all of the teens willingly met with the predator, knowing this person was an adult and knowing they were going to engage in sex.¹

Common guidance provided to young people is: "Don't talk to strangers, don't share personal information, and don't agree to meet people who approach you on the Web."

Excuse me. We have children running around on Club Penguin in their "penguin suits" talking to online strangers —and they are perfectly safe. Further, another recent study demonstrated that there was no connection between providing personal information (which the researchers did not define adequately) and receiving sexual solicitations or unwanted sexual communications. Prevention research has consistently found that stranger danger warnings are ineffective.

Young people are communicating with strangers online, and will continue to do so. They need to know the safe places to engage in these communications and how to set up their profile to limit their public availability. Anonymous communications on sites like Club Penguin are very safe. But there is always the possibility that someone might say something unkind or ask for personal contact information. So children need to know how to respond safety.

Tweens and early teens should use safer social networking sites and set their preferences properly. I advise that they limit their "friends" to people they know and "friends of friends." They must know how to investigate the profiles and communications of people they do not know in person to determine whether this person is someone they want to spend time online with. All teens must know to watch for stranger danger "red flags" —anyone who send them an overly friendly messages sends, tells them how special or wonderful they are, offers gifts or opportunities, tries to establish a special or secret relationship, asks for a sexy picture, or tries to turn them against their parents or friends. These are signs of danger. They also need to know how to arrange for a safe meeting —in a public place, with parents or friends nearby, and a safety plan in case something is not right.

Because they are sharing personal information on these sites, they need to know how to share information safety and protect specific kinds of information —personal contact and financial information, intimate or reputation damaging material, and information about others.

Schools must find ways to make social networking technologies available for educational use. This does not mean providing open access to MySpace and YouTube. These are commercial sites that have limited educational value. However, they do occasionally have educational value, for example the Macaca video that was posted on YouTube was a watershed event in politics. So teachers should have the ability to override the filter to gain access to these sites for intermittent educational activities.

Teachers must have the ability to use educational social networking technologies for instructional activities. These technologies need to have controls over who has access and the easy ability for teachers to monitor all online communications of their students. These are educational systems, so no privacy should be anticipated.

We must shift from the Web 1.0 Internet safety approach —fear–mongering, simplistic rules and filtering— to a Web 2.0 approach. We should protect younger children. But we need to empower tweens and teens to make safe and responsible choices by providing them with accurate information about the risks and effective protective strategies.

Nancy Willard, director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, has been championing a Web 2.0 approach to Internet safety and responsible use since 1995. She is author of Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Cruelty, Threats, and Distress (Research Press) and Cyber–Safe Kids, Cyber–Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Use the Internet Safety and Responsibly (Jossey Bass). Nancy is developing narrated PowerPoint presentations to be used for professional development for educators and workshops for parents.

¹ Wolak, J., Finkelhor, D & Mitchell, K.J.(2004). Internet–initiated sex crimes against minors: Implications for prevention based on findings from a national study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 35(5), 424-433. http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/jvq/CV71.pdf.