Review 2: "Dangers overblown for teens using social media"

Link to article
Goodstein, Anastasia. “Dangers overblown for teens using social media.” Mediashift. http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/06/dangers-overblown-for-teens-using-social-media155.html (accessed October 19, 2009).

Anastasia Goodstein's article is part of the Public Broadcasting System's Mediashift site. Mediashift is a site dedicated to the ways media are changing.

Goodstein devotes the beginning of her article to an anecdote about NBC's show To Catch a Predator. This show is a reality program in which sexual predators are lured to meeting a teenager... but instead of a teen, they encounter the NBC host, who grills them mercilessly about their sexual proclivities. Goodstein writes, "I also remember thinking, 'If I was a parent, this would scare the crap out of me.'" She notes that the main source of parental panic in this day and age is the concept of "stranger danger." Essentially, children and teenagers are taught that strangers (especially on the Internet) are all very bad people, and therefore, parental vigilance is the only way that one's child will not be abducted.

As a woman, I was taught these lessons with the added message of rape avoidance: don't post pictures of yourself in a "sexy" pose; don't talk to males online (they could be ANYONE); et cetera, ad infinitum.

Goodstein, the author of the book Totally Wired, is concerned about the message that this attitude sends. "The dark stuff is in there [on the Internet]. But so is the reality: Most teens aren't talking to strangers online. They're just socializing with the same friends they see in peron at school or met at summer camp."

The Internet is also a place where teenagers can express themselves and find others who share their interests. Of course, Goodstein warns, these same expressive, curious teenagers can fall into predators' traps; it's just that these traps are not as numerous as the mainstream media would suggest.

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EXPERT PANEL

Goodstein had the chance to discuss this issue with a group of experts at the Congressional Internet Congress. (The entire presentation can be found here.) Much of the discussion revolved around misleading statistics. While most Americans probably think that the most vulnerable users of the Internet are young children, the statistics show that this is not true. Teenagers are more likely to be victimized by online predators than young children.

But why? Wouldn't young children be easier to seduce, easier to trick? Young children, unlike teenagers, do not really have any degree of independence. Teenagers sometimes have access to a car, or time after school to spend as they please. Also, teenagers are more likely to have a computer in their room, rather than in the living room or den, where their usage could be more easily monitored.

Three percent of the victimization cases the panel studied resulted in abduction. However, 73% of cases involved the teenagers meeting the predator for a sexual encounter. These teens are quite often the longtime victims of sexual and physical abuse, so they are already vulnerable to victimization.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Internet safety education is essential for today's teenagers, but it doesn't have to focus on stranger danger and paranoia. One idea that Goodstein has is to mental health advocates on the Internet to stage interventions for at-risk teens. Could this work? Probably not, in my opinion. There are too many at-risk teens on the Internet and not enough people willing to help. (Kind of like real life.)

This article brings up some interesting issues for young adult librarians: in addition to having a social media policy, should your library have Internet safety classes? Who would attend these classes (voluntarily)? Perhaps a more reasonable solution would be to require all users of public access computers in libraries to take a short quiz about Internet safety. Of course, this brings about all sorts of issues in itself.

Goodstein's article would also be a good resource to have in one's proverbial bag of librarian tricks: if a parent asks what the library is doing about the hordes of Internet predators just waiting to attack their teens, the librarian can show them this article as an alternative viewpoint.

Review 1: "Should your library have a social media policy?"

Link to article
Kroski, Ellyssa. “Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy?” School Library Journal. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6699104.html (accessed October 7, 2009).

The beginning of this article recounts a cautionary tale of social media use. The vice president of a large technology venture was flying to Memphis, TN, to speak about social media with FedEx, one of its biggest clients. When the VP landed, he tweeted, "True confession but i’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say 'I would die if I had to live here!'" Of course, someone at FedEx followed him on Twitter, and reposted the tweet to various colleagues. It was a huge publicity mess.

Kroski, an information consultant and adjunct faculty member at Long Island University, writes that having a social media policy for one's library can avoid these types of situations, and provide protection from challenges if the situation does arise.

She writes, "When thinking about devising an internal social media policy, you may want to address the different types of applications such as blogs, Facebook, and other social networks, and microblogging services like Twitter, as well as accommodate those emerging technologies" (Kroski 2009). This is a difficult task to undertake, which is why the author suggests using a wiki to create the policy.

Kroski also outlines the points a social media policy should contain, including "Don't share secrets," "Respect copyright," and "Be yourself." This last point is not a feel-good message about self-expression; it's a reminder to be candid about one's professional and personal ties while using social media.

In general, Kroski's article provides a good foundation for technology policy (not just social media), but the very idea of having a social media policy is more valuable than the basic points covered here. Social media is a very easy way to get in trouble on the Web, and libraries need to learn to protect themselves.

Technically wrong robot

However, "Something is technically wrong" robot might be cuter than Fail Whale.

Fail whale

Hey everybody! It's FAIL WHALE TIME! Fail whale is Twitter's way of saying, "Oh no, there are a lot of people who like me, I will explode now." At least he's cute.

Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy? article

Should Your Library Have a Social Media Policy?

Facebook faux pas. Errant tweets. A dicey post could be damaging. Avoid these putfalls with some simple guidelines.

Ellyssa Kroski -- School Library Journal, 10/1/2009

While this article is mostly full of common sense tips, it is important to remember that having strong policy in your library can save a lot of time. If a patron has an issue with a library's social media use, the librarian can point to the policy as guidelines for use.

Twitter as a useful tool

I have decided to review Twitter as a tool that public libraries can use to target teen interest. There are some studies that show that teens do not use Twitter as much as social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace, and my review will take this into account. These sites have far more "customizability" than Twitter, which has a simple, easy-to-use interface and only allows for a short personal description. There's a great Pew Internet study about social networking and libraries (it's saved in my Delicious account).

Anyway, that's where I'm headed so far.