Are You Sure MYSPACE.COM Is so Bad?

Many concerned parents and individuals are trying to shut down the popular Myspace.com website.

Myspace.com was created a few years ago in California by a young man named Tom. His mission was to create “an online community that let’s you meet your friend’s friends.” It’s very useful in keeping up with friends, family, and re-connecting with classmates from high school and college. Today, more than 99 million people in the United States are registered users of Tom’s Myspace.com site.

The trouble and uproar with Myspace.com begins with people posting too much about themselves on their profiles, showing off their pictures, and mingling with other members that they don’t know. Parents and others are worried that such a site is opening up a door of opportunity for criminals and murderers to seek out a victim.

Take for instance a Denver, Colorado incident. A young girl met six men on Myspace.com and soon invited them over to her house. When they arrived, five of the men went on a rampage through her home, stealing over $40,000 worth of electronics, jewelry, and other items. While they were doing that, the fifth man was raping the girl.

The growing website is also blamed for the murder of a Baltimore woman. She was shot one night by her date, a man she’d met on Myspace.com.

Since Myspace is being held responsible for many horrible occurrences, an increasing number of people are protesting against the site.

There are petitions online that are trying to get enough signatures in support of the site ceasing operation. In North Carolina, people are writing letters to the governor asking him to aid in the efforts to shut it down.

Myspace.com should not be shut down. Instead, people should better follow safety guidelines. Encourage your buddies and family members to set their Myspace profiles to private. Even greater, suggest taking phone numbers and locations off postings. Make it impossible for unwanted visitors to access you and your friends.

Myspace.com does have the option for its members to make their profiles private. That means only those people the member has approved can view his/her site. Predators could not browse and get any potentially harmful information or details about the person this way.

There is also a way for members to block users that they wish not to communicate with.

As for younger generations using Myspace, parents need to remember to check on their children. Follow up with them and make sure they are being safe.

I myself am a member of Myspace and can tell you first hand how extremely easy it is to search and browse profiles of 12- and 13-year-old girls who obviously lied about their age to be approved for membership to the online community. Not only youth, but I can find many adults who are posting their addresses, school names, and even phone numbers for everyone in the world to see.

I think it’s wonderful to have such a site that allows me to find long-lost friends, stay in touch with family, and write to present friends – all in one place and within an easy click of a button. I would personally hate to see it taken offline.