The concept of social
networking has also been extended to other areas. For example, Youtube (also
picked up by Google), provides users with the ability to express their
creativity, network, rate their favorite video clips, etc. Some sites like
Flickr, DropShots, or PhotoBucket provide users with the ability to post and
share photos and family videos.
The bottom
line is that social networking is hugely popular and
it is big business. Unfortunately, child molesters, sexual
predators, and scam artists have
discovered that these sites can also be exploited to find victims.
There have
been numerous instances of sexual predators and child molesters posing as
children to network with young victims on MySpace.com. MySpace was also
recently discovered to be compromised by attackers spreading malware on
exploited profile sites. MySpace has taken steps and implemented security
measures to minimize this problem, but users should still be cautious and
aware.
While not
directly related to a social network, Craigslist, the popular regional
classified listings site, was recently used by a predator to lure a victim to
her death. After listing a job opening for a babysitter / nanny, and arranging
a meeting with the potential nanny, the killer then murdered the prospective
nanny.
Photo sharing
sites are used by thousands of families to post and share family photos. It is
possible to restrict access and only let users you identify view the pictures,
but many users are proud of their kids and their photographic skills and allow
the general public to view the photos as well. Child molesters and sexual deviants can search
through these sites and bookmark their favorite photos of young boys and
girls.
Follow these steps to use social networking sites responsibly and avoid
becoming a victim:
Be Skeptical. At least be cautious. The point of social
networking is to find people who share your interests and establish a network
of friends, but don't let
down your defenses too easily. Just
because someone claims to like the same music as you, or share a passion for
scrapbooking, doesn't mean it is true. These new "friends" are
virtual and faceless and you can't completely trust that they are what they say
they are.
Be Diligent. Knowing that the potential exists for scam
artists or sexual predators to be lurking about, keep an eye on your profile and be diligent about who you allow to connect
with your profile. For photo sharing sites like Flickr, check out the users who
are marking your photos as their Favorites. If some stranger is marking all of
the pictures of your 7-year old son as their Favorites, it seems a little creepy and may be
cause for concern.
Report Suspicious Behavior. If you have reason to believe that someone is a sexual
predator or scam artist, report it to the site. If you look at the profile of
the user marking your son's photos as their Favorites, you might find that they
have marked hundreds of other young boy's photos as their Favorites. Flickr, and
other such sites, should take action against this sort of suspicious
behavior.
Communicate. Parents who have children that surf the Web and frequent these social networking sites should
communicate with their children. Make sure your children are aware of the
threat, and that they are educated about how to use the Web safely. Make sure
that they understand the risks and that they know they can talk with you about suspicious or malicious activity they encounter.
http://netsecurity.about.com/od/newsandeditoria2/a/socialpredators.htm
FIND WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS IN THE TEXT THAT MEAN:
- es el último grito / es muy popular
- con el único propósito
- lo esencial / el punto fundamental es
- pederasta
- depredador sexual, pedófilo
- estafador
- hacerse pasar por
- marcar como favorito
- pervertidos, depravados sexuales
- no bajes tus defensas/ la guardia
- estar al acecho
- vigilar
- asqueroso, repulsivo
- actividad maliciosa o sospechosa
- tranquilidad
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