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Great advice as usual....
1. Keep personal details to a minimum
2. Pre-approve other people’s tags
3. Control what information is shared with apps
4. Turn off public search
5. Use the inline audience selector
Get the full low down @ http://theonlinemom.com/secondary.asp?id=2029&t=5-essential-facebook-privacy-...
Interesting report on how primary schools can keep up with e-Safety including:
The Acceptable Use Policies in the case studies schools included rules and advice for children around:
• turning off the screen and informing an adult if they find anything unpleasant or disturbing online;
• touching files that are not their own;
• being respectful to other people online;
• sending abusive or inappropriate text messages;
• giving out personal details that might identify them or their location;
• placing photos of themselves online;
• denying access to unknown individuals;
• blocking unwanted communications; and
• privacy settings, security and passwords.
Out of Your Hands is creating a 2012 campaign to raise the profile of mobile phone crime and to reduce the number of young people from becoming victims. We would like your pupils/students to design a slogan and simple graphic or logo which will alert people and remind them to be aware of the mobile phone crime risks at public events.
Mobile phone industry initiative to combat crime
A Survey Of Awareness, Attitudes, And Use Of Online Parental Controls
Findings From A National Survey Among Parents
FOSI believes that a grounding in facts is necessary for proper initiatives, legislation and development of best practices. For our new research initiatives, the Institute will be partnering with renowned research groups to obtain information on the latest trends and behaviors of children online. By doing this, we hope to achieve a basis of evidence on which further projects will be based.
The Institute has high hopes for a future in research that will cover a wide variety of topics, and is thrilled to have worked with Hart Research Associates on our first piece of data, Who Needs Parental Controls? The project would not have been possible without the support of its sponsors, AT&T, Google, Microsoft and Verizon.
Please see below for the Executive Summary and full report, and stay tuned for upcoming features.
Best practise for parental controls coming soon, in the mean time...
I was approached a couple of months ago by Alex Terman of Digital Parent, an American company helping parents. Since we had registered @digitalparent he sugested that we swap with him who had registered @digitalparents.
It seemed sensible and so as of today, our tweets will now be located @digitalparents and, if you have followed us on twitter, you will find their posts in your twitter stream.
We hope that you will take two minutes to [re] follow us at @digitalparents
Use of social networking sites represents the single largest increase in Internet use in the last two years.
60% of British Internet users use online social networking sites, up from 49% in 2009, and 17% in 2007.
Use of social networking by people under 25 has stabilized at around 90%.
Almost all the growth in social networking since 2009 has been among employed people aged 25-55 - uniformly, about 15% growth since 2009.
Get the full report here: http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news/?id=598
14 September 2011 Last updated at 17:58Trolling: Who does it and why?
By Tom de Castella and Virginia Brown BBC News Magazine
Celebrities are often targets for abuse
An internet "troll" has been jailed for mocking dead teenagers on various websites. Public figures, including Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart, have also been victims of trolling. So what is it and why do people do it?
For some the word derives from a fishing term for towing bait behind a boat, for others it comes from the Norse monsters. But today trolling is more likely to involve a keyboard and mouse than a trawler, and if not a monster, it is a very modern menace.
Opponents might characterise it as the internet equivalent of road rage, vandalising a grave, or kicking a man when he's down.
Trolling is a phenomenon that has swept across websites in recent years. Online forums, Facebook pages and newspaper comment forms are bombarded with insults, provocations or threats. Supporters argue it's about humour, mischief and freedom of speech. But for many the ferocity and personal nature of the abuse verges on hate speech.
In its most extreme form it is a criminal offence. On Tuesday Sean Duffy was jailed for 18 weeks after posting offensive messages and videos on tribute pages about young people who had died. One of those he targeted was 15-year-old Natasha MacBryde, who had been killed by a train. "I fell asleep on the track lolz" was one of the messages he left on a Facebook page set up by her family.
Continue reading the main storyHigh-profile cases
- Natasha MacBryde - Sean Duffy was jailed for 18 weeks for posts on social networking sites about the 15-year-old after she took her own life
- Hayley Bates - MP Karen Bradley raised trolling in Parliament after a Facebook page was set up mocking the 17-year-old's death in a car crash
- Jade Goody - Colm Coss was jailed for 18 weeks after posting obscene messages on Facebook sites set up in memory of the Big Brother star and several other dead people
Duffy is the second person to be jailed for trolling in the UK. Last year Colm Coss was imprisoned for posting obscene messages on Facebook tribute sites, including that of Jade Goody.
Trolling appears to be part of an international phenomenon that includes cyberbullying. One of the first high-profile cases emerged in the US state of Missouri in 2006, when 13-year-old Megan Meier killed herself after being bullied online. The bully, Lori Drew, was a middle-aged neighbour who had set up a MySpace account to win - and later betray - her trust. Drew was acquitted of unauthorised computer use in 2009 due to concerns that a conviction would criminalise false online identities.
The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects free speech and makes it difficult to punish people who post offensive messages. But concern over internet vitriol is growing.
Facebook's former marketing director Randi Zuckerberg and Google head Eric Schmidt have both suggested anonymous posting should be phased out.
One of the difficulties is that trolling is a broad term, taking in everything from a cheeky provocation to violent threats. And why people do it continues to baffle the experts.
"Online people feel anonymous and disinhibited," says Prof Mark Griffiths, director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University. "They lower their emotional guard and in the heat of the moment may troll either reactively or proactively."
It is usually carried out by young adult males for amusement, boredom and revenge, he adds.
Arthur Cassidy, a social media psychologist, says young people's determination to create an online identity makes them vulnerable to trolling. Secrecy is jettisoned in favour of self-publicity on Facebook, opening the way for ridicule, jealousy and betrayal.
And the need to define themselves through their allegiance to certain celebrities creates a world in which the rich and famous become targets for personal abuse. As a result trolling is "virtually uncontrollable" until the government forces websites to clamp down, he says.
But it's not just young people. Scan any football, music or fan site and there are people of all ages taking part in the most vituperative attacks. But many of the theories that have been put forward as to why people do it don't stand up, says Tom Postnes, professor of social psychology at Groningen University in the Netherlands.
Continue reading the main storyView from the internet forums
Will Brooks on setting up Myfootballclub.co.uk
It was £35 to join MyFC so I don't think anyone joined with the intention of trolling. But disagreements on the forum all too easily turned to abuse. Finding out that respected professionals in their mid-fifties could post in that way was an eye opener. I've since discovered that forums have a habit of turning sour as it only takes a minority to skew them. As a format they've lost their innocence.
After researching "flaming" - the term for trolling in the early days of the internet - he rejects the idea that people "lose it" when online. If anything they become more attuned to social convention, albeit the specific conventions of the web. Provoking people appears to be the norm in some online communities, he says.
Most trolling is not criminal - it's about having a laugh, says Rob Manuel, co-founder of the website B3ta, which specialises in altering photographs for comic effect. "Trolling taps into people's desire to poke fun, make trouble and cause annoyance," he says.
He first became aware of the phenomenon in the 90s when a friend cross-posted on fan sites for Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, asking: "Who'd win in a fight - the Emperor or Gandalf?" Manuel says his friend sat back and laughed like some "mad scientist looking at insects in a jar" as hundreds of passionate posts followed.
'No guilt'We're all capable of becoming a troll, says Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist in the US and author of You Are Not A Gadget. Lanier admits he has sometimes behaved badly online and believes the cloak of anonymity can encourage people to react in extreme ways.
"The temptation is there and we can get caught up in impulses. If someone reacts, it's emotional and it can be hard to get out of. We can all become trolls."
Former Facebook executive Zuckerberg says anonymous posting should be phased out
Twitter has given the public direct access to celebrities. And stars, including Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart, have temporarily left the website after coming under fire. Internet experts say the key is not to "feed the troll" by offering them a response. Comedian Dom Joly takes a different approach.
He describes himself as "troll slayer" and takes pleasure in tracking down the culprits and exposing them to public shame, especially from close family.
"There's something about a bully that really annoys me," he says. "They'll say something online that they'd never dare to say to your face."
The deviousness is "freaky". He discovered that one of those who'd threatened him was a 14-year-old girl with nine different online identities. They aren't always very intelligent about how they do it, he says.
Continue reading the main storyThe law
- The Communications Act 2003 governs the internet, email, mobile phone calls and text messaging
- Under section 127 of the act it is an offence to send messages that are "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character"
- The offence occurs whether those targeted actually receive the message or not
"One guy tweeted from his work account that he hoped my kids die of cancer. I let the MD of the firm know and the guy was fired. I felt no guilt, he should have gone to prison."
Some think regulation is needed, but trolling is not the internet's fault, says Jeff Jarvis, author of Public Parts. "The internet does not create special threats. It's a public square where people will be saying all sorts of things, some of them offensive."
The answer is for newspaper websites and online forums to employ sufficient moderators to prevent the comments spiralling into petty vendettas, he says. To ban online anonymity in order to prevent trolling would be to remove the right of whistleblowers and dissidents to get their message across, he adds.
Manuel agrees. "People are saying nasty, stupid things. So deal with it. Shutting down free speech and stamping on people's civil liberties is not a price worth paying."
Interesting follow up on the whole issue of Trolling
Tips for new Facebook parents
Earlier this week we wrote about how you can monitor your child on Facebook. But what about setting the account up in the first place?
If you are not a Facebook user yourself, it's easy to be blindsided by a sudden request for an account from your child. A flat refusal might work for a while, but with over 70 percent of teens using Facebook on a regular basis, your child may start to feel left out. The last thing you want him or her to do is resent your intransigence and open an account without your knowledge.
If you are unfamiliar with Facebook or are not sure what's the right approach for a tween or young teen, here are a few tips to help get you started:
Use your own e-mail address to open the account
If you are setting up an account for a tween or young teen, use your own e-mail address or an e-mail address that you both have access to. This way, you will see friend requests as they come in and any other notifications like tags (your child's name) in posts or photos. You will also know if your child tries to change the password!
Quality not quantity
When you first open a Facebook account, there is a tendency to equate the number of friends you have with how popular you are. That usually results in a mad dash to friend everyone you know...and quite a few people you don't! Resist the temptation. Building a friend list slowly but surely will make for a much more satisfying Facebook experience.
Don't allow Facebook to choose friends for you
When you first open an account, Facebook will suggest lots of friends for you based on previous Facebook accounts run off the same computer (very sneaky!) or based on the Profile information you provide. It will also ask for permission to search your e-mail account, so it can suggest even more friends.
Ignore them all! You should carefully add friends based on your own preferences, not Facebook's.
Choose the Profile Photo carefully
The photo on your child's Facebook profile is very important. It can say volumes about how they see themselves, as well as what you, as a parent, think about them. Cutesy is OK, provocative is a no-no. If you're not comfortable having a photo of your child up there at all, then think about using a picture of a favorite pet, or maybe an avatar. (That's a cartoon-style image, not the tall blue lady from the movie!)
Be selective about the Profile Information
Although the account will be live straight away, you still need to complete the Profile Information. Click on Profile on the menu bar and click Info on the left-hand side. Here, you can edit your Basic Information, Personal Information, Contact Information, Education, Work and the things you are interested in like Sports and Arts & Entertainment.
When filling out your Profile Information, you should assume that everything you complete will be visible to others. Although Facebook allows you to hide Contact Information, you should leave that blank anyway.
Privacy Settings
Once you have completed the Profile Information, go back to the menu bar and click on Account. From the dropdown menu, click on Privacy Settings. Facebook will give you a brief overview of all the Privacy Settings options. Most Privacy Settings are set by default to Everyone. Here, it's recommended that you change all the settings to Only Friends.
On the Apps, Games ans Websites page, click on Edit Settings next to Public search and uncheck the Enable public search box. This will make sure your child's Facebook information is not searchable by Google or other search engines.
Remember, Facebook has a strong tendency towards openness, which may be fine later in life. When your child starts out in the social networking world, the emphasis should be on privacy.
Be careful about adding older Friends
Be careful about who you and your child add as friends. That 19-year-old cousin might be a great guy at Thanksgiving dinners and family reunions but if he's just started college and likes to party, there may be things on his Facebook page that you would rather your child didn't see. Remember, Facebook works both ways: Your child will be able to see everything that is posted to her friends' pages and even to some friends of friends' pages.
Teach what's appropriate
Once your child's account is up-and-running, spend some time together discussing what's appropriate to write or post and what's best left off the site. Teach them to ask permission before posting photos of other people. (Particularly photos of Mommy in a swimsuit!) Talk about updates and photos that are posted by your child's friends and what you like or don't like about them.
As we suggested before, set-up the right way, Facebook can provide an invaluable opportunity for parents to teach cyber awareness and appropriate online behavior. Grab the opportunity before it's too late!
Do you have other tips for kids – and their parents – starting out on Facebook? Share them with The Online Mom!
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Nice intro for Facebook beginners
First of all any racist, sexist, bullying, or harassing people must be reported. You can do this by clicking on the “flag” link at the bottom of their post on the group page. The message will appear that you have flagged this person and that you can also report them. Click on “report” and from the dropdown menu select “attacks individual or group”. This will notify Facebook that this person is acting outside of Facebook rules, which expressly state:
1. You will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user.
2. You will not post content that: is hateful, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.
3. You will not use Facebook to do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious, or discriminatory.
Facebook themselves suggest how best to deal with trolls
Simply put, Formspringing is a one-dimensional social network that allows anyone to ask anyone absolutely anything. That’s all you do. You get asked a question, and you answer it. Or, you post a question, sit back, and watch the anonymous (and mostly crude) answers pile up.
This is a fantastic overview of Formspring (last year) from one of the best commentators around.
