Remember when the world was a simpler place? Remember when, instead of updating Facebook.com walls, sending smiles over Friendster.com and messaging people on Myspace.com, people actually talked to each other? It is no surprise to anyone at Brown that these Web sites have a huge following. Nearly every day, someone asks me to "add them" so they can have access to my personal info online, look at my pictures and offer me the same access to their lives as well. But what about the repercussions? Luckily for all of you I know and love - and all the other people I'm "friends" with on the Internet - I'm not some crazy stalker, nor am I looking just to get into your pants - at least not all of you. But, if I were, would you know? No, and that's why networking Web sites have been getting into so much trouble recently.
The most popular networking site, Myspace, is in a heap of trouble because it provides its registered members unlimited access to the personal information of all of its 70 million members. While Myspace has instituted some safeguards for users under the age of 16, the lack of anonymity of the site is what has gotten a lot of people talking about it, from my 13-year-old sister to the people over at CNN. In the past two weeks alone, I've seen about 10 news stories covering incidents involving Myspace and its users. Just last week, a report was released about a student at the University of the Cumberlands, a Baptist school in Kentucky, who was expelled because he revealed on his Myspace profile that he was gay. NBC's Dateline recently alerted viewers to cases of child molestation in which children were abused by sexual predators they met over Myspace.
Stories like these make even this committed Myspace user question whether this system of communication and networking is as harmless as one might think. While we may feel secure in our own judgments to reveal information about ourselves online, it's clear that this open system of peer networking does not work for everyone, especially children. Furthermore, it is partly our fault as an older generation of Internet users that this problem has even arisen. Rather than question whether or not the perks of online networking could be harmful to ourselves and to others, we complacently buy into them. We have created a cultural phenomenon that no amount of "good parenting" can combat.
For the sake of argument, let's look at a peer network that is very near and dear to our hearts - Facebook - and see how easy it is for even us savvy Brunonians to compromise ourselves online to strangers. You might think no one but your friends on Facebook and kids from your own school can see your profile, and you're right. But there are nearly 8,000 other students here at Brown and an ungodly number of schools now registered, and any of these people, given sufficient determination, can find access to all kinds of personal information about us, from our cell phone numbers to our home addresses.
Now imagine how dangerous that could be for a younger sibling or your pre-teen neighbor.
I may not necessarily agree with the anti-Internet crusades of older, more conservative generations, but I have to say that, in this case, they may have a point. Myspace announced last week that it would take action against online predators on its site by more severely monitoring members' profiles and by hiring outside consultants to handle security efforts. But, is this really the final solution?
We may not find a solution today, nor will I abandon these sites yet, because, hey, I like meeting people. Nonetheless, companies like Myspace and Facebook cannot continue to deny responsibility for the potentially dangerous situation they have created. Students always talk about confronting society on what's going wrong. It's time that this discussion of what needs to be done to preserve our privacy while offering protection for children come out of syndicated news and into the minds of every one of you reading this. We can't afford to sit idly by while our parents decide where the Internet goes and how these sites operate because it will ultimately affect all of us and how we navigate the web.
And, seriously, could you imagine a world without pokes? I don't think so.
Adrian Muniz '07 wants to be your friend.
