Parents: What protection would you want for your kids participating on an online social network?
If you could design a social network for your own kids, what protection mechanisms would you want?
Answers (9)
I think I'd want the contact phone nos. and addresses verified by the service provider. A secure social network only for kids.
I like your question and will get back to you shortly. I have 5 kids of my own.
Jon D
Entrepreneur and Technology Consultant
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Currently, the only social network my kids are allowed to visit is Club Penguin because I can restrict the communication to predefined lists of benign questions and answers. I don't even let them use Google.
The only way I would change that stance would be a site that included all of the following:
1) Contact information verified as Linus mentions
2) Clear and strong code of conduct to which users must agree
3) A human-moderated environment for all posts and chat rooms
4) Complete logging of all communications to and from the child's account sent via email and (optionally for additional charge) my snail mail
My teenage daughter's cross country coach just sent home a letter to ignorant parents last week warning them about lewd and lascivious usage of cell phones and MySpace by members of his team (ranging in age from 11 to 13). The stuff he has seen with his own eyes would send a chill down your spine. Parents need to wake up to the technology their kids are using. I'm lucky in that I am a "geek" and keenly aware of the dangers. Many parents are not.
A fundamental knowledge of psychology. Kidding. Sort of. (it would be nice.)
You wouldn't let your child (shouldn't, I should say) go to a party without a chaperone, so a web-chaperone would work just as well, in a controlled setting. They could easily monitor room access (with whispers and IM's disabled, of course) and the authority figure would incite progress.
James W
Biz Dev, Web, Social Media & Interactive Services @ Enilon
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I would like to restrict social networking to adults only or children only. Children being under the age of 18. Obviously there is a policing issue, but in theory it is the right way to do it.
A networking website for children should be built in a way to deny ALL exchanges of personal information. They should even be able to tell anyone what country they are from. Any chats should be restricted to very specific pre-defined text.
You should take every precaution to protect children, but in the end it is up to the parents to educate children on the dangers of the Internet.
Links:
Your questions is specifically about mechanisms. So I'll mention but not ellaborate that the first line of defence is *education*. just like when you told them not to take candy from strangers in the park.
As for mechanisms:
1. Verified Identity - like "real name" in Amazon. Made visible on screen.
2. Pattern recognition algorithms - to identify potential preditors.
2.1 Raise alerts on possible offender
2.2 Give real time advice to online users (i.e. the kids) when they disclose personal information or set off-net meetings.
3. Allow or dictate parental supervision (most of the information on these sites is public anyway...)
4. Allow creation of closed groups (class, school, etc.)
5. DON'T allow trojan horses in the form of Facebook-like applications
6. Separate age groups (1-2 grade, 3-5 grade ... High-School, etc.)
Just to name a few...
Many sites requires parents to fax in permission and provide updates to parents. I like NeoPets and club Penguin because of their restricted capabilities. But, I've been studying other social networking sites and it is surprising how often many of the members are young children. By the age of 9-10, kids know how to get around age restrictions. So - "Adult" sites usually include any number/percentage of children and ALL social networking sites should assume there are children present - even if the site has age limits. Often children want to play the games or create the avatars but would like to avoid the swearing and sexually mature content. Even on adult sites, this type of content should be marked and easy to avoid.
The option, at any point, to completely delete all information in an account. For all intents and purposes - including the fact that it was ever registered in the first place.
What would be nice (but either not practical or too-big-brother):
1. A parent/legal-guardian accessible page where they can see a overview of their childs activity
2. I've seen chat-rooms within games where all text/interaction s where down with a pre-determined list of expressions and phrases. It may not be practical (or liked by kids) but if someone could come up with a similar system that kids would embrace, they'd do very well.
3. The option for parents to block access during specific times (child should be at school or doing homework etc). However I would only allow parents limited control (you have X hours per week that you can block not including normal school hours)
Brian C
IT/SEO Guru, vBSEO Community Builder, Freelance web-developer, Entrepreneur, market investor
The best protection kids can have on the internet is having a parent who cares about them, and talks to them about the dangers of the internet.
Restricting is not the answer.
Knowledge and trust that your kid will do the right thing is.
