[LINK] Fwd: New My space research from the PEW Institute FYI

[Jan Whitaker]

social networking and young people



>http://www.pewinternet.org/press_release.asp?r=139
>Short summaries of our research reports and other project news.
>
>Most teenagers with social network profiles online are taking steps to
>protect themselves from the most obvious risks
>
>A new report, based on a survey and a series of focus groups conducted
>by the Pew Internet & American Life Project examine how teens,
>particularly those with profiles online, make decisions about disclosing
>or shielding personal information.
>
>4/18/2007 | Release
>
>Still, 63% of teens with online profiles believe that a motivated person
>could eventually identify them from their online profile
>
>WASHINGTON - The majority of teens actively manage their online profiles
>to keep the information they believe is most sensitive away from the
>unwanted gaze of strangers, parents and other adults. While many teens
>post their first name and photos on their profiles, they rarely post
>information on public profiles they believe would help strangers
>actually locate them such as their full name, home phone number or cell
>phone number.
>
>At the same time, nearly two-thirds of teens with profiles (63%) believe
>that a motivated person could eventually identify them from the
>information they publicly provide on their profiles.
>
>A new report, based on a survey and a series of focus groups conducted
>by the Pew Internet & American Life Project examine how teens,
>particularly those with profiles online, make decisions about disclosing
>or shielding personal information.
>
>Some 55% of online teens have profiles and most of them restrict access
>to their profile in some way. Of those with profiles, 66% say their
>profile is not visible to all internet users. Of those whose profile can
>be accessed by anyone online, nearly half (46%) say they give at least
>some false information. Teens post fake information to protect
>themselves and also to be playful or silly.
>
>Here is a rundown of the kinds of information they post on their
>profiles, whether they are public or shielded:
>
>
>82% of profile creators have included their first name in their profiles
>
>79% have included photos of themselves.
>66% have included photos of their friends.
>61% have included the name of their city or town.
>49% have included the name of their school.
>40% have included their instant message screen name.
>40% have streamed audio to their profile.
>39% have linked to their blog.
>29% have included their email address.
>29% have included their last name.
>29% have included videos.
>2% have included their cell phone numbers.
>6% of online teens and 11% of profile-owning teens post their first and
>last names on publicly-accessible profiles.
>
>The new survey shows that many youth actively manage their personal
>information as they perform a balancing act between keeping some
>important pieces of information confined to their network of trusted
>friends and, at the same time, participating in a new, exciting process
>of creating content for their profiles and making new friends. Most
>teens believe some information seems acceptable - even desirable - to
>share, while other information needs to be protected.
>
>The majority of teen profile creators suspect that a motivated person
>could eventually identify them. While most teens take steps to limit
>what others can know about them from their profiles and postings, they
>also know that the powerful search tools available to internet users
>could help motivated individuals track them down. Some 23% of teen
>profile creators say it would be "pretty easy" for someone to find out
>who they are from the information posted to their profile, and 40% of
>teens with profiles online think that it would be hard for someone to
>find out who they are from their profile, but that they could eventually
>be found online. Another 36% say they think it would be "very difficult"
>for someone to identify them from their online profile.
>
>"Teens realize that in some ways they are more accessible when they are
>online," says Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew
>Internet Project and co-author of a new report based on the survey.
>"They try to strike a balance between being safe from strangers and
>keeping things private from their parents and other adults, while at the
>same time sharing enough information that allows them to socialize with
>friends and perhaps even make new friends."
>
>The survey also suggests that today's teens face potential risks
>associated with online life. Some 32% of online teenagers (and 43% of
>social-networking teens) have been contacted online by complete
>strangers and 17% of online teens (31% of social networking teens) have
>"friends" on their social network profile who they have never personally
>met. The report also addresses how teens make new friends and interact
>with strangers online.
>
>
>32% of online teens have been contacted by strangers online - this could
>be any kind of online contact, not necessarily contact through social
>network sites.
>21% of teens who have been contacted by strangers have engaged an online
>stranger to find out more information about that person (that translates
>to 7% of all online teens).
>23% of teens who have been contacted by a stranger online say they felt
>scared or uncomfortable because of the online encounter (that translates
>to 7% of all online teens).
>
>"Social networking sites are not the first online application to spark
>worries among parents," says Mary Madden, senior research specialist at
>the Pew Internet Project and co-author of the report. "In our first
>study of teen internet usage in 2000, well before social networking
>sites emerged, many parents were worried that strangers would contact
>their children online through email and chat rooms. At the time, parents
>responded to these worries by taking precautions such as monitoring
>their child's internet use and placing the computer in a public area of
>the home - much as they do today."
>
>The report, entitled, "Teens, Privacy, and Online Social Networks," is
>based on a survey conducted by telephone from October 23 through
>November 19, 2006 among a national sample of 935 youths ages 12 to 17
>and on a series of seven focus groups conducted with middle and
>high-school aged teens in June 2006. The survey has a margin of error in
>the overall sample of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
>
>The Pew Internet Project is a non-profit, non-partisan initiative of the
>Pew Research Center that produces reports exploring the impact of the
>internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools,
>health care, and civic/political life. Support for the non-profit Pew
>Internet Project is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Jan Whitaker
JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
personal: http://www.janwhitaker.com/personal/
commentary: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/

'Seed planting is often the most important step. Without the seed, 
there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
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