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Wednesday, May 31, 2006
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myspace security...be safe!!
i found this!!!
SO MYSPACE ISN'T SAFE??
If you watch the news
it's no secret that MySpace.com,
and websites like it, are taking a beating.
They're being portrayed in a negative light
by things that are happening between MySpacers.
In Connecticut, for example, as many as seven teenage girls
may have been raped by men they met on MySpace.
And last year, in Virginia, a young woman
was murdered by a man she is said to have met here.
If you were my friend then, you may remember the missing
bulletins I posted for her.
MySpace, and similar websites, give teens access to each other
in ways never before experienced by young people.
They also give predators access to teens
in ways never before experienced by predators.
Are you safe? Or stupid?
Let's find out
Most young people have a picture in their minds
of what the average predator looks like.
NOTE: THIS MAN IS NOT A SEX OFFENDER
He's old.
He's scary.
And he's masquerading as a fifteen year-old boy
to try to get with you in real-life.
And most young people have a picture in their minds
of what happens when MySpacers and predators connect.
HMM IS SOMEONE GETTING SOMETHING HE DIDN'T EXPECT???
It's not pretty.
In fact, it's pretty disturbing.
So browse your friends lists. Check your comments.
Any predators lurking?
"Hell, no!" you're probably thinking.
And that's where you might be mistaken
Most young people aren't playin' PICK THE PEDOPHILE
as they browse thought their friends lists.
And, truth be told,
the vast majority of folks on MySpace are harmless.
They're here for the same reason you are: to meet people.
For fun.
Some, however, aren't.
Some are here to take advantage of you.
And, scarily, you'd probably never be able to pick them out.
Let's meet seven of Florida's sexual offenders.
All between seventeen and twenty-one,
each of these young people are incarcerated for sexual crimes
against people fifteen and under.
One just went to jail earlier this year.
Think he had a MySpace?
Almost everyone does. Hmm.
UPDATE AS OF 3/26/06: Stan's MySpace...
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=23874260
Take a look. See anyone who looks familiar? It's possible.
Some of these people might look like someone on your friends list.
Predators? They don't appear to be. They look like normal kids, don't they?
Guess again
Makes you think, doesn't it?
Across the country, MySpace has gotten people thinking.
Schools are holding seminars.
Local news networks are running day-long MySpace exposes.
Even the national newsmedia have gotten into the act.
The DatelineNBC series where they lure pedophiles into a house
and surprise them with a reporter and some hidden cameras?
Many of those men were lured by a fake MySpace profile.
"Stop allowing teenagers on MySpace," parents are saying.
"Make it 18 and over. Or sixteen and over."
MySpace, in fact, takes quite a risk in continuing to allow young people to use the site.
How long can it continue?
Tips on internet safety are available throughout the internet. MySpace even has a section for parents about protecting kids. But how many of you have taken a minute to read it?
Instead, I offer you some tips here
1. Put your REAL AGE in your profile
You're 14. But your profile says 19. Or 99.
What the hell? Why try to hide your real age?
People who don't want to talk to you because of how old you are lame.
People who hide their real age to trick people into talking to them lamer!
Don't do it.
Be honest.
2. Don't put your address online.
What are some of us, retarded?
If you put your address on MySpace, anyone can come to your door.
I could go to mapquest.com and print out directions
then mail them to my scariest friends in your area.
I could send you stuff you don't want.
Dog shit in a bag? It's coming next week!
I could order pizzas to your house.
That taxi beeping out in front at 4 a.m.? That was from me.
And that's the nice stuff.
Just think what Pete the Pedophile has in store for you.
The only real answer is to keep your address offa MySpace.
God DAMN some people are stupid!
3. How about phone numbers, C h r i s?
Let's start by reading number two again.
Ever had mad people paged to call you?
Ever gotten a million text messages, anonymously from the internet, to your cell?
That's what can happen if you put your phone number on 'Space.
And that's the non-sexual stuff.
That heavy breathing you heard when you answered last week?
That was Lester the Molester.
He masturbates to your page. And, now, to your voice.
Told me to tell you thanks!
Keep your number off your MySpace.
4. If we know people what then?
Trust them? Then that's on you.
5. Hey 13yo's! Don't put provocative pictures on your MySpace!
This one's directed mostly at the girls.
First of all, it makes you look slutty.
Like you have no self-respect.
Second, it leaves little to the imagination.
Third, you have no idea how many guys
are printing your info out on photo paper and taking it to bed.
Bet there's a lot.
If you wanna be a porn star at 13,
you have more problems than I can help you with here.
Chill on that shit.
Most of us don't wanna see it, anyway.
If you're going to share share privately.
But ask yourself who you're sharing with first.
And think of who that person may be sharing with and so on.
Leave those pictures to Forbidden.
UPDATE 3/31: THESE GIRLS GOT ARRESTED FOR THEIR PICS:
http://www.woonsocketcall.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16409025&BRD=1712&PAG=461&dept_id=24361&rfi=6
6. Keep it age-appropriate, people.
Every state has what's known as a legal age.
In New York, it's 17. Your state may differ.
Many states also say that, if the younger person is under 18,
the older person cannot be any more than 3 years older.
If they are, it's a felony.
I mention this because, in the cases in Connecticut, the girls are around age thirteen - and the men are in their twenties.
Before you "hook up" on MySpace, ask yourself:
Why can't a guy in his twenties find someone else his own age?
What's wrong with this guy that he is trying to have sex with thirteen year olds?
Is it a case of arrested development?
Is he demented?
Or is he just a pedophile? That's probably it.
Then, if you still want to invite him over, ask some friends.
Maybe they'll help lead you in the right direction.
Or ask a parent. Or a friend's parent. Or the friggen bus driver.
Ask someone. Because chances are, everyone else in the world
will recognize what's going on, even if you don't.
7. But we've already been going out for a few weeks!
Okay. The age difference didn't bother you
and now you're an item.
Let's look at what can happen, shall we?
Let's meet Stan.
Stan was nineteen when, last year, he was arrested
for having sex with a person aged thirteen to fifteen.
Stan was just taken to prison LAST WEEK on February 16th.
He will remain there for three and one-half years.
Damn!
The records show that she could have been as old as fifteen; Stan was 19.
Not that uncommon, is it?
And the same applies in almost every state in the country.
UPDATE: STAN'S MYSPACE:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=23874260
How many people aged 18, 19, 20, etc. who are online mackin' it to 13, 14, and 15 year-olds on MySpace?
How many people aged 14 and 15 do you know who mack it right back?
Scary.
8. Couldn't the Rule of Threes apply here?
If you've watched American Pie, you're familiar with the Rule of Threes.
You know
if a boy says he's had sex three times, it's really one or none.
And if a girl says she's had sex one time, it's really three.
Hahahahaha or whatever.
How about the other Rule of Threes?
Haven't heard of it?
It says that people under eighteen should keep it within three years.
Example: You're thirteen he's sixteen. Ewww, but okay.
You're thirteen he's seventeen. Ewww, hell no!
You're sixteen he's nineteen. That works if it's not illegal in your state.
You're sixteen he's twenty-five. Um, no.
Note: Before I even posted this blog, I'd already gotten responses from girls as young as fourteen replying to my rough draft posted as a bulletin; they were upset that I suggested that teens shouldn't meet with people in their twenties. Made me wonder if this would even be taken seriously. On the other hand, one girl who wrote to brag that she didn't care if her profile said 18 had changed it to 15 by the time I went to look. Mission accomplished!
There are a number of other rules that I could add here.
Most of them are common sense, which, it seems, we sometimes lack on the internet.
Basically, just protecting yourself.
So what's good about MySpace?
When you see the news stories, they rarely mention the positives.
How many of us have made friends on this site?
How many of us are into music, and found other people who like the same bands.
Maybe we jam with people we met off of the site.
Maybe we play World of Warcraft, or Xbox, or other games with MySpacers.
Some of us have found the courage to talk to people on MySpace
that we'd never have walked up to in school.
Some of us are aspiring rappers, or musicians, or filmmakers.
MySpace has given us a way to get our shit out to mad people, and fast.
The next Eminem will be on MySpace first.
The next Evil Kneivel or Jackass or Punk'd
you'll see that debut here, too, on YouTube plastered all over pages.
MySpace is more important to most of us than many people understand.
And despite all of that, it's being ruined by internet predators using it to pick their next target,
and by young people who lack the judgment, or common sense, to be safe.
Please don't be one of the stupid ones.
Keep ya heads up.
1:54 PM
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