Here’s looking at you, kids

John Peate from Shrewsbury is no different from a lot of young people who use social networking sites. An avid fan and regular user, the 21-year-old has almost 300 friends on Facebook and describes it as a fantastic way of communicating.

Facebook launched in 2004 and rose to prominence in the last two years. It was especially handy for networking during his time at Aberystwyth University. Stuck in a small town, it was how he would get in touch with other like-minded people.

But there are perils to social networking sites, which also include the likes of Bebo and MySpace.

John says that a site called Xuqa was banned while he was at Aberystwyth because explicit personal information about students was posted online, leaving them vulnerable to being preyed on.

“The problem at the time with Xuqa was that anyone could look at it and you would be told who had been looking at you,” he says.

“There was no security. A person put a girl’s address on there and said ‘if you want a good time this is where you can go’.”

In old-fashioned money, a bit like an explicit warts-and-all posting that you might see on the wall of a public toilet, there for all to see. The great thing about Facebook, John says, is that it has variable security settings, allowing only ‘friends’ to contact you.

However, he warns that some people post all sorts of personal information on their profile pages, including phone numbers, which he says could be dangerous should a third party discover your protected password and penetrate your security settings.

And this, for many parents - and particularly for those who don’t know their Facebooks from their cookbooks - is of huge concern.

In an age when we are frightened to let our kids play out in the street for fear they might be targeted by the school bully or, heaven forbid, a sex offender, most parents feel safer knowing their nippers are playing upstairs - often on a computer.

But bullies, paedophiles and the like are smarter than you might think. They know our kids’ new social whirl is online, on cool social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, and can infiltrate the party, so are logging on and could be trying to talk to our bedroom-bound children even while we are downstairs watching Coronation Street.

In a way, the anonymity an internet chatroom affords a cyberbully can, in fact, make them more dangerous. And even more so given that some parents are oblivious to how social networking works.

Police have already uncovered evidence of youngsters in Madeley, Woodside and Brookside trying to set up fights with rival groups. Nationally, there are also dodgy network communities set up to encourage all manner of wayward behaviour, including drug-taking.

Evidence from a BBC Watchdog experiment also revealed that posting a handful of personal details on Facebook can give fraudsters all the information they need to open bank accounts in your name.

A report by communications watchdog group Ofcom warns parents to wise up. It says parents are unaware of the dangers their children face by posting details about themselves on social networking sites.

It published research showing that more than a quarter of eight- to 11-year-olds who have internet access bypass online age restrictions to set up their profiles.

There must be something behind all the fears because now the Home Office is to supply social networking sites with the e-mails and details of known sex offenders in an effort to prevent them from contacting and targeting children who use them.

Julie Ruler, a community strategy support officer for Oswestry Borough Council, says that as a parent she has concerns about social networking sites, the type used by her son.

“My son Harry uses Bebo and MSN - he is on there all the time, as all his mates are,” she says. “As for parental control I would not have a clue where to start. All I do is tell him the dangers and trust him to be sensible.

“About a month ago I was on my home computer and he had left it signed on. There was a picture of a friend of his with his shirt off in a model sort of pose. To me very attractive and not explicit, but nevertheless not suitable.”

“I spoke to the boys and said they should be careful and told his friend to replace it or I would talk to his mum.”

Dr John Worthington, from Whitchurch, is also a concerned parent with worries about the onward march of social networking sites.

He says: “This is a huge issue. It is growing so fast and like in so many things there is good and bad, but it can be a potential nightmare for some.

“My daughter uses Facebook, and finds it useful to keep in touch with family and friends. There is a problem with younger people using it blindly and inadvertantly giving out private and personal information to the wrong people so they can obtain their email addresses, sell it on or use it for ‘mining’ or ‘phishing’ for information, which can be disastrous.”

John’s advice to parents and other users is to only allow linked close contacts to see your profile. Do not open it to all. Choose privacy settings. Be very careful what information you put on.

He adds: “Parents should keep a gentle check on their children and always have access to their networking accounts and insist on knowing their passwords for their protection.

“Unfortunately many parents may be completely unaware of what is going on and also don’t have the computer skills to keep control.”

But the fact is that social networking is here to stay. And the other side of the coin is that of course there are good aspects to the likes of Facebook and Bebo. We just generally only get to hear about the negatives.

Take the case of beauty queen Rio Scott, 23, from Worthen, near Shrewsbury. When her car was stolen, police drew a blank.

So Rio posted details of the crime on Facebook - and guess what? One of the people copied into her Facebook entry had seen it and before you could say ’social networking is bad for you’ Rio was reunited with her motor.

“I was amazed, especially when the lady who found my car said it was as a result of Facebook,” she says.

“People said it might be a silly idea to put my car registration number on it, but as far as I was concerned my car had already been invaded.

“Of course there are bad stories - I’ve heard of eight-year-olds having Facebook profiles. But as long as you use it for what it’s for, and use it sensibly, it’s a great tool.”

Namely, edit security settings to private - that’s Rio’s advice.

Shrewsbury Facebook user Nick Stockley, 21, who is using the site to promote an upcoming charity cycle trip through France, says: “There is a lot of talk about how such sites can be dangerous, but as long as the correct privacy settings are in place it’s very easy to use safely.”

By Ben Bentley