This week I will probably make a group of readers angry, but hey, that’s life in the fast lane.
 
I am not a fan of social networks like MySpace.com, Facebook.com or most of the others.  One aside here; I am a Twitter user, if you want to check my posts at twitter.com/rondoyle to prepare for bedtime feel free…boring.

I don’t have time to read about other peoples’ experiences.  They just aren’t really that exciting.  I read a couple about someone standing in line at a store and getting mad at the slowness of the line…well boring.  I realize that is all my personal opinion and there are many millions of them out there being read so I am apparently in the minority.

I worry about them mainly for people who do not always think about the possibilities.  A large portion of the population who doesn’t always think about the future is young people.

They will be warned by their parents, teachers, preachers, etc. about not giving out personal information so that a stalker could cause them horrifying problems.  And like me at one time, having been a young person back in the Stone Age, would have said, “OK, don’t worry; I know what I am doing!”  Then they proceed.

There are many examples of them and one or two I know of where people will start out strong.  They give a fake name, age and location.

I have heard of one preteen who gave her location as another state and an age a little older than she was.  Over several months she would give other non-specific information.  For instance, her number on the school basketball team seemed like a safe bet.  At a later date she mentioned the school’s name that she attended.  One day she posted a picture of herself and some friends near where she lived.

The stalker put this together and researched immediately finding that the school she went to was near where they lived, in the same state.  Then he got her jersey number and figured out her real name.  Then they started chatting with the girl through her social networking site and became “friends”.  In the end he set up a place to meet with her at a local baseball field…whap, the trap was sprung.

This turned out well, which is sometimes rare.  This particular person was being watched by the authorities who formed a special team to investigate online stalking.  The authorities met with the girl and her parents to set up a trap.  The stalker was caught and dealt with…but these stories many times don’t have a happy ending.

You must warn your kids to be cautious if they are on one of these many networks and check up on them.  Be nosy and ask what they are doing.  Be tricky if needed; set up your own account and become a friend to your kids to know what’s going on.  It could be a lifesaver.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 8:54 am and is filed under Columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.