Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

[Replies: 23]

I know that in the past a perception has existed that Facebook was safer for students than MySpace, but today I would discount the veracity of that claim.

In fact, it seems easier right now to gather detailed facts about teens from Facebook than it is from MySpace. Much easier.

Virtually anyone can obtain a Facebook account without verfication of any claims. The idea that it's somehow more secure because it requires an invitation from a loosely defined, non-verified group or organization is absurd. Users can invite anyone they want. MySpace pages that are privatized accomplish the same thing in terms of requiring an invitation.

Unlike MySpace where actual names are seldom used/seen, both first and last names are published on Facebook. A new user can not only see dozens of photos of the teenager, they can see an actual first and last name, plus the school they attend and what grade they are in.

Sounds LESS secure to me.

I'm curious if Larry, another forum host, or anyone in the biz here can offer us an update as to their thoughts about safety comparisons between the two sites (particularly for high school students) as of September, 2006.

Thanks everyone.

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Edited by Sunday at 09/27/2006 7:32 AM

Last Post Mar 22, 2010 7:01 PM by: tigger

Anne

Posts: 507

Registered: 6/26/06

(9 of 24)

Re: Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

Sep 27, 2006 9:28 PM

Thanks for joining us, Sunday. Come back. Would love to get further thoughts from you on parenting social networkers.
Anne --
Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director

Larry

Posts: 136

From: Silicon Valley, California

Registered: 6/19/06

(8 of 24)

Re: Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

Sep 27, 2006 5:49 PM

I sent this posting to Chris Kelly, the chief privacy offer of Facebook. Below is his reply:
Larry

Your poster makes the erroneous assumption that Facebook works the same way as MySpace with regard to profile access. Getting an account on Facebook doesn't give access to all (or even many) profiles. Our new regional registration option allows users to get on the system and to model their real world friend networks on Facebook; it doesn't give them access to profiles outside of confirmed networks and friends.

Because of our network architecture, restricted profile access, and superior privacy controls, the scenario that the questioner imagines, someone getting on and easily accessing teens' personal information, just doesn't happen on Facebook the way it does on other sites. There are no Facebook search tools that allow a user, for instance, to search for 14 year olds.

Prior to launching regional registration, we also instituted additional privacy and safety features that allow users to restrict even the limited information (name, network, thumbnail of profile picutre) that can be found through search.

Facebook is dedicated to providing a safer Internet experience for all our users. We have carried forward our focus on empowering users to make informed choices about personal information as we make our social directory available to more people.

Chris Kelly
Chief Privacy Officer
Facebook

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Larry
Co-director
BlogSafety.com

Sunday

Posts: 6

From: Hinsdale

Registered: 9/27/06

(7 of 24)

Re: Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

Sep 27, 2006 4:37 PM

Thanks Anne, John, and Larry. My daughter said this very topic was discussed at length in her AP Euro History class today. I'm not sure of the parallel between blog safety and humanism during the Italian Renaissance ?:|

but she said they talked about some of things John mentioned. Namely that the security aspects of Facebook have recently been diluted. More importantly, they talked about how many now belong to college groups to stay in touch with last year's seniors and are getting introduced to people they don't know "yet" via Facebook and "friends in common", and that they might want to slow down in collecting hundreds of new friends, which is one of the goals newly in to the school year and new to Facebook.

Raising teens is a unique chapter of parenthood and new technology (cell and camera phones, text messaging, iPods, blogs, etc.) presents both new tools and new challenges with which we don't necessarily have any history or experience. Thanks for a new tool.

Anne

Posts: 507

Registered: 6/26/06

(6 of 24)

Re: Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

Sep 27, 2006 2:00 PM

You bring out some really good points, Sunday. First, it's great that you monitor your daughter's Facebook page by logging in as her - wish more parents knew they could monitor that way (for the teens on this site, I'm not saying all kids need such monitoring!).

So I conducted a little experiment. As an adult registered on Facebook with a "regional" network account, I decided to search for high school and college students. First I decided to see who I could turn up in a search of Facebook users at Palo Alto High in Calif. The search engine wouldn't allow me to search by any class/year after 2006, so in effect I couldn't turn up any student who hasn't yet graduated. (Of course you probably coulde logged in as your daughter, who is a h.s. student, right? But I'm just an adult out there, like adults who might pose a risk.) Then I went to search for someone I know who goes to Gonzaga U. in Washington State. I found her, but I couldn't view her page (only her main photo and full name) - I was only allowed to send her a msg, view her friends (and see only what I could see in my friend's search result), poke her, or add her to my friends list. If I add her, she can see my page but I can't see hers unless she confirms I'm her friend. I can send her a msg or poke her, but she can only see my page (for a week in the case of poking) and she doesn't have to respond. So the only real risk involved is if the person in a college network responds to a stranger's email, which some might do. There could be bad people establishing accounts within h.s. networks of Facebook (who presumably could then see what I could see on the Gonzaga network), but they have to be invited by people already in the network and then, again, they'd have to be responded to to pose a threat.

You're right that MySpace is a little "safer" than that if someone registers as a 14- or 15-year-old (no one can even ask to be on their friends list without knowing their full name or email address), but if someone registers as an adult without any privacy features turned on, which is the default, his/her full profile can be viewed by anyone. It would take some careful thought, though, to do a detailed apples-to-apples comparison, I think.

The most important 2 takeaways for all young users, I feel, whether or not they have privacy features turned on, are 1) don't respond to strangers and 2) don't post any contact info that would allow someone to locate you in real life. Not everyone will, but if people follow those, they'll be fine (unless they post stuff that harasses others or hurts their reputations and futures, of course!). --
Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director

John Carosella

Posts: 1

From: Silicon Valley

Registered: 9/27/06

(5 of 24)

Re: Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

Sep 27, 2006 1:03 PM

Facebook is a case where a previously "more robust" (term used advisedly) verification and segregation system is being watered down. Undoubtedly, the pressure on Facebook to compete/duplicate the success of MySpace (perhaps so they can command a higher price if sold) is starting to be felt.

I spoke on a panel at the National Association of Attorneys General conference in June, with representatives of both MySpace and Facebook. The Facebook representative was VERY adamant that Facebook was a "closed system". Having built that reputation, some parents no doubt felt "more OK" about their kids using Facebook.

Unfortunately, that reputation is less deserved now. As Anne points out, there are still some closed circles. But it's no longer correct to say, "Well, Facebook is safer than MySpace". Perhaps it's still valid to say "Facebook CAN be safer than MySpace", but it now is essential that you understand what community within Facebook your loved one is a member of.

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Edited by John Carosella at 09/27/2006 1:20 PM

Sunday

Posts: 6

From: Hinsdale

Registered: 9/27/06

(4 of 24)

Re: Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

Sep 27, 2006 12:29 PM

I sign in on my daughter's Facebook account which is organized by high school friends, but also cities and other "organized" networks.

One of the things I've noticed about the high school students is that they are frequently listing their e-mail and AIM addresses. Contact information is the NORM on Facepage. The common habits of the majority of posters become the defacto standards, ergo, the real measurement of "safety" on a blog.

In other words, it's EXTREMELY easy for a predator to find contact information from Facebook right now. And as I mentioned before, students are typically publishing their full names, their schools, and their contact information -- all on their profile page. Some even publish their entire class schedule along with after-school activities.

I'm neither complaining nor asking here about site "guarantees" which would be absurd. I'm merely sharing some current information about safety comparisons between MySpace and Facebook. Some of the information here about Facebook is out-of-date, and parents might want to take another look if they haven't been on it to monitor what's going on lately.

It's not safer than MySpace in any way. If we (informed parents) can jump the Facebook fence and see all of this information......then so can any resourceful pedophile. I rate MySpace as the safer of the two sites for high schoolers. That said, Facebook is gaining in popularity and MySpace is dropping off so I've been taking the time to learn the nuances. I can see why busy teens like it. Fewer graphics and more socialization/networking on broader, less personal scale. It's a faster "text-conference-call".

If your kids are using it and you haven't been on it lately -- you might want to step up the monitoring, though. Because the safety issue merits attention.

FWIW.

Anne

Posts: 507

Registered: 6/26/06

(3 of 24)

Re: Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

Sep 27, 2006 11:24 AM

I think by their nature, social-networking sites just can't guarantee user safety. Only users can, by being smart about what they share (why we got involved). But the sites can help with a combination of education and site tools. I hope that, in opening up, Facebook is also beefing up user education, for example about just how public users' accounts are, as they display their full names. But on the subject of how public pages are, even in opening up to any valid email address, Facebook hasn't changed that much. It hasn't become one big network as MySpace and YouTube are. When you sign up, you choose what network you're signing up for - college/univ., high school, workplace, or regional. When I signed up giving my actual (adult's) birthdate and without a .edu address, I was blocked from a h.s. or college network, and I have my own tiny organization which has not established a Facebook network (tho' I can try to start one), so the workplace option wasn't available to me either. Consequently, the only option available to me is a regional network. I guess the next experiment would be to lie and say I'm 16 and try to get into my son's high school network, as a predator might do. Want to try it and post about whether you were successful at getting into your local high school's Facebook network?

But the upshot is that, by just adding networks instead of becoming one giant one, Facebook does have a certain level of safety or validation built in. Hard to quantify it and make apples-to-apples comparisons, though. Does that help? All best,
Anne --
Anne Collier
BlogSafety co-director

Larry

Posts: 136

From: Silicon Valley, California

Registered: 6/19/06

(2 of 24)

Re: Facebook Less Safe than MySpace

Sep 27, 2006 10:12 AM

Very good question. I need to spend more time looking at Facebook's new set-up before I can give an educated opinion on this but, clearly, Facebook's initial premise of a semi-closed network of college students is no longer the case. The more they open up to the broader public, the greater the chance that people with bad intentions will start to use their service.

Having said that, Facebook has always had its risks even before it opened up.

--
Larry
Co-director
BlogSafety.com

Sunday

Posts: 6

From: Hinsdale

Registered: 9/27/06

(1 of 24)