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Teens Actually Do Protect Their Online Profiles
Thib writes "A study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project reveals that the majority of teens pay attention to what they are revealing about themselves in their online social profiles. For instance, while many routinely use their first name or include a picture, 'fewer than a third of teens with profiles use their last names, and a similar number include their e-mail addresses. Only 2 percent list their cell phone numbers.' The study comes to light just as state legislatures once again begin to mutter about the dangers of online predators. From the article: 'According to Pew, 45 percent of online teens do not have profiles at all, a figure that contradicts widespread perceptions that the nation's youths are continually on MySpace.'"
This depends a lot on the website. On facebook you can choose who can see your profile, so in my case only my friends can see it. Other people can see my name, a picture (I seem to be the only one with a picture of me without alcohol in the shot) and can see who my friends are. However, on my profile, I put all my contact information so my old school friends can contact me if they want to.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
I remember a little girly talking to me about how safe she was online. I sent her a google map link to her high school and the approximate location of her house and picture of her self.
She got the idea pretty quick.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Yes, in the above statement, I made 6 assumptions. The number (and nature) of assumptions was purposely unrealistic to reflect upon what lawmakers are likely attempting to plan for. Yes, it does yeild to the conclusion that we should ban phone numbers, which is also an unreallistic and unlikely conclusion. Sarcasm, I am afraid, was not transmitted effectively.
You can also uniquely identify someone without using a name at all. This paper (pdf warning) from 1997 found what percentages of voters in Cambridge, Massachusetts could be identified using seemingly innocent data:
birth date alone: 12%
birth date and gender: 29%
birth date and 5-digit ZIP: 69%
birth date and full postal code: 97%
Actually, I wasn't insinuating that at all.... I am saying that more than 2% of the combined (male + female) teen community will be pregnant or have a child.
Assuming an even distribution of male and female (50% each sex), then it would actually mean that 4% of the teen girls would be pregnant while they were teens, since 0% of the boys could be.
I guess thats one of those cases where I knew what I was trying to say, and it seemed clear to me because I knew what I was saying, but it actually doesn't say what I intended at all.
Sometimes the best solution is to stop wasting time looking for an easy solution.