If Facebook and MySpace Are Responsible Then…

off with their heads!

Ridiculous, isn’t it? That’s about how ridiculous it would be to hold social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace responsible for the action(s) of their members. When people join these forums, become members and active participants, they take on certain inherent risks that they are responsible for:

1. Disclosing personal information
2. Other users/visitors accessing and viewing their personal information
3. Chatting with complete strangers. Yes, they’re strangers even if they are online.

Laura from Business and Blogging and I were paired up to discuss this “problem” that is being fought and debated in the online world. You can read Laura’s point-of-view here to see what she has to say. We LOVE having fun here at b5media and this was a lively discussion we thought we’d talk up to see also what others thought about it.

To briefly continue on my diatribe, users who are Facebooker’s or MySpacer’s cannot and should not hold the site administrators responsible for the actions of its members. There are literally millions of social networkers who are on these sites every single day. Social networking is fast becoming a more preferred method of communication and its popularity is growing exponentially. As I mentioned earlier, with this growth comes certain risks that the users take and the site owners should not be held responsible for. To protect yourself on a social networking site, the following steps can help you to avoid any potentially difficult situations:

*Only users the age of 14 and older should sign up. Not 13. Age – 14.

*Do not give “correct” information. Change your birth date to be off one month. The day to be off a couple of days. Do not give out accurate information to complete strangers.

*Use a proxy site to enjoy the forums without divulging IP addresses or personal information. Proxy sites are wonderful for anonymous users.

MySpace and Facebook are expected to grow even faster with users coming online everyday. I signed up with Facebook at the end of last year and with MySpace a couple of weeks ago. I already have “friends” who want to meet me and chat. I don’t have a clue as to who they are, where they are and what they want. It’s a good thing I’m way too busy right now to socialize! But when I do, and I will, I will take all of the necessary precautions to ensure my safety and keep myself from dangerous situations.

MySpace and Facebook isn’t responsible for that. I am.