Facebook faces up

Over the past few years, the phenomenon of social networking sites – MySpace, Facebook and the like – has exploded. It seems that practically everyone under the age of 25 has a profile on at least one such site, and phrases like “top eight” and “writing on someone’s wall” have become a part of social culture. \nWith the success of social networking sites, however, has come some criticism, primarily aimed at those sites’ security. Although Facebook and MySpace, the two primary social networking sites, take steps to protect users’ privacy and to keep them safe, no system is perfect. Concerns exist about child predators using these sites to find and lure victims. \nTo that end, some are taking action. An investigation conducted by the state of New York purports that Facebook needs to take further measures to protect users, saying that minors remain at risk despite Facebook’s promises to ensure privacy. Of additional concern is a new feature that allows Facebook profiles to appear in Google searches, making the profiles available to all, not just users.\nSocial networking sites surely have a duty to make safety and privacy measures available to users. It does not seem like it should be the duty of the government – or of the sites themselves – to offer all-encompassing protection to all users.\nChild predators have been able to make easy use of Facebook, which was originally intended for college students but later extended its membership to high school students and now permits access to all people over 13 with valid e-mail accounts. Common sense shows that with each of these steps, it became possible for both younger Internet users and much older Internet users to have access to the site. Thus, young, inexperienced and vulnerable minors now cruise the site along with old folks, college kids and everyone else.\nRegardless, it’s not really the site’s job to baby-sit children, and it’s not the government’s job to force the site to do such a thing. It’s the responsibility of the parents to supervise their children’s Internet use and to make sure they understand the potential dangers of sites like Facebook. The site’s safety features are relatively easy to use and fairly effective – they just need to be utilized.\nOn the other hand, Facebook’s move to make user profiles available on Google searches is a bit questionable. The decision was a fairly obvious grab for page views and the money that comes along with that. While one can disable this function, Facebook’s default setting allows profiles to show up on searches. That is a mistake. The default setting should be the safest setting – in this case, the option should be to choose to make the profile available, not to remove it from availability. \nFacebook does have a duty to offer protection for its users, and the site should assume that its users prefer privacy. Nevertheless, social networking sites do not hold all of the responsibility. Inevitably, parents must do their jobs to protect their children and not simply hope that the government does it for them.