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Yes, MySpace, like other social networking sites, can be a safe venue for teens, if they are educated in responsible use of it. Any social networking can pose a threat to naive, gullible or over-protected young people. The more street-wise kids learn the social networking etiquette and safeguards quite quickly, but it is up to parents to check they have learned this well through allowing teens monitored access to the technology until parents are confident their teens are internet-savvy. This applies to all social networking sites, not just Myspace. In fact Myspace has one big advantage over the other sites for creative, artistic teens - it still offers the best music resources, band profiles and music fan bases.

Sites such as iLike on Facebook are trying to catch up but lack that personal interactive quality that comes from the artiste and allows music enthusiasts to interact with like-minded fans. This is missing on iLike as is the ability to offer new work to a wide audience. Young people on MySpace can create a profile and talk to friends who share the same interests whether that is music, make-up or fashion. The danger is, of course, that strangers may pose as potential friends. So social networking sites have their dangers and teens are best steering clear until they are old enough to assess risk for themselves, or responsible enough to draw threats to the attention of an adult.

Such threats may include cyber-bullying, stalking and grooming. Impersonators try creating whole new phony lives for themselves as teens, even using the same slang as teens to get their confidence. Their aim is either to get identity details for the family (such as bank and credit details) or even worse, to tempt the young person to meet up. Lonely, isolated so-called 'unpopular' teens may be more susceptible to this..




Other dangers include the inadvertent downloading of viruses, access to unsuitable material, scams such as phishing and attracting stalkers who won't go away when young people realise they have been tricked into adding an impersonator. File sharing can also leave computers vulnerable to attack.

When taking all these factors into account it is a wonder any of us allow our teens anywhere near a computer let alone a social networking site like MySpace, yet it is part of their future in terms of technology and they will need the skills in work and business and career networking. Perhaps parents need to look at their own teens and see what needs to be done and where

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