The Wonderful World of Myspace: Myspace is a place to meet new people, connect with old friends, make awesome profiles, and look at pictures, among other things. What could possibly go wrong with this great thing called myspace?

Problem #1: Putting too much personal information: Too much personal information can mean putting what town you live in, where you go to school, your first and last name, and where you hang out with your friends. The reason you don’t want to put personal information on your myspace is because if you do someone who doesn't know you could find you with the information that you have put on myspace. This could be dangerous.

Solution: Don’t put your first or last name on your myspace. To do this you can just make up a fake name and put your real name    (not your last name) as your title name above your picture that everyone can see.

Problem #2: Myspace Drama: Just like in school where people gossip and spread rumors, it can also happen on myspace. People can leave others nasty comments, or start groups. Many parents have come into middle and high schools complaining about the stuff that went on through myspace.

Solution: Be nice, treat people the way you want to be treated, and if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all. Here are some tips to protect yourself from this kind of thing from happening to you. Set your profile settings so that you have to approve of comments before they go on your profile, and if anyone is harassing you- delete them from your friend’s list.

If you are being bullied on myspace, please tell someone you trust and get help.

Problem #3: Making Fun of Teachers/Making a teacher a Myspace:

Some people have made videos, blogs, and groups making fun of teachers.

This can get students in huge trouble, because someone that works for your school can see it and report it. Other students have made a teacher a myspace and this is a case of identity theft and can get the teacher in trouble as well as you.

Solution: The best solution that I can tell you for this problem is simply don’t. Don’t make fun of teachers on myspace, xanga, livejournal, etc. It is just not a good idea. If you are going to make fun of a teacher don’t do it online. Don’t make videos or comments about any teacher online.

Protect yourself from internet predators or harassment by making your profile private!

Myspace how to make your profile private:

1. How to make a myspace private: There is a feature on myspace that allows you to make it private so only your friends can see your entire profile. To do this you have to make yourself 15 or younger, and stay 15 or younger because when you say you turn 16, the myspace will make itself public again, so make sure if you want to keep your myspace private that you stay young! :) With your myspace private, only the people that are your friends on myspace can see your whole profile, which includes your pictures, your comments, your about me section, etc. Technically your supposed to be 14 to have a myspace (even though this isn't being enforced), so Tom can delete your profile (or anyone else’s) because you are too young to have a myspace.

2) Don’t accept friend requests from anyone you do not know. People will try to add themselves as your friend, and you want to set your profile so that you can see who requests to be your friend. You can also make it so that before people can add you that they need to know your last name or email address.

Myspace privacy policy http://collect.myspace.com/misc/privacy.html?z=1

This is great place to get more information on being safe on the web and using myspace safely     http://wiredsafety.org/
 Myspace safety tips http://www.myspace.com/Modules/Common/Pages/SafetyTips.aspx

SafeTeens website http://www.safeteens.com/

From Wikipedia- I'm happy to tell you I wrote most of this and was the first one over 2 years ago to post how to use Myspace safely and make a profile private!

1. Don't put too much personal information on your page. Too much personal information can mean putting what town you live in, where you go to school, your first and last name, and where you hang out with your friends. The reason you don’t want to put personal information on your Myspace page is because if you do someone who doesn't know you could find you with the information that you have put on Myspace. This could be dangerous. ** Don't be fooled by all the 20 question surveys. The more questions you answer and post on your page, the more information you're letting people know. You may not say your age, but if you put what grade you're in, you might as well have told them your age!
   
   
2. Avoid drama. Just like in school where people gossip and spread rumors, drama can also happen on Myspace. People can leave others nasty comments, or start groups. Many parents have come into middle and high schools complaining about the stuff that went on through Myspace. Be nice, treat people the way you would want to be treated, and if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all. Here are some tips to protect yourself from this kind of thing from happening to you. Set your profile settings so that you have to approve of comments before they go on your profile, and if anyone is harassing you- delete them from your friend’s list.
   
   
3. Be smart. Know that you are not anonymous on your Myspace page (even if you don't have your full name on your page, people will know who you are), so if you do something like making fun of your teachers, someone could find out and report you. (Such a said event has actually happened. A teacher in Tennessee had a rumor posted on a pupil's page.)
   
   
4. Protect yourself from Internet predators or harassment by making your profile private. How to make a Myspace profile private: There is a feature on Myspace that allows you to make your profile private so only your friends can see your entire profile. To do this, go into your "Account Settings" and then "Privacy Settings". Check the box "My Friends Only". The feature has been available to everyone (any age) in late 2006. With your Myspace profile private, only the people that are your friends on Myspace can see your whole profile, which includes your pictures, your comments, your "about me" section, etc. Technically, you're supposed to be 14 to have a Myspace page (even though this isn't being enforced), so Tom (the founder of the site) can delete your profile (or anyone else’s) because you are too young.
   
   
5. Don’t accept friend requests from anyone you do not know. People will try to add themselves as your friend, and you want to set your profile so that you can see who requests to be your friend. You can also make it so that before people can add you that they need to know your last name or email address.
   
   
6. Don't be upset if your parents question you about the content on your page. This is not a "private venue". Anything you put on MySpace becomes available to the public. Be thankful that your parents are interested in what's going on with your life. 

Myspace Child Safety

MySpace allows registering users who are as young as 14. ^[16] Profiles with ages set to 14 to 15 years are automatically private. Users whose ages are set at 16 or over have the option to restrict their profiles, ^[17] and the option of merely allowing certain personal data to be restricted to people other than those on their friends list. Accessing the full profile of or messaging someone under the age of 16 is restricted to a MySpace user's direct friends only if the account is set to 'private'.

U.S. Congressman  Mike Fitzpatrick ( R - PA ) has also introduced controversial legislation (H.R.5319) to ban usage of the site in public places, such as schools and libraries, and to have the power to tap into usage of the website in those places.

MySpace often has problems with profile identity theft. These are profiles containing the pictures and sometimes information of someone else's profile. These stolen profiles are commonly used to advertise websites. MySpace will delete these profiles if the victim verifies their identity and points out the profile via e-mail. ^[18]

Recently, MySpace has been the focus of a number of news reports stating that teenagers have found ways around the restrictions set by MySpace, and have been the target of online predators. ^[19] In response, MySpace has given assurances to parents that the website is safe for people of all ages. Beginning in late June 2006, MySpace users whose ages are set over 18 could no longer be able to add users whose ages are set from 14 to 15 years as friends unless they already know the user's full name or email address. ^[20] However, these restrictions only work if users are honest about their age. Some 3rd party Internet Safety companies like Social Shield ^[21] have launched online communities for parents concerned about their child's safety on MySpace.

In June 2006, a 14-year-old girl who says she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old user sued MySpace and News Corporation, seeking $30 million in damages. In the same month, 16-year-old Katherine Lester flew to the Middle East after having tricked her parents into getting her a passport in order to be with a 20-year-old man she met through MySpace. US officials in Jordan persuaded the teen to turn around and go home.

Recent story-

MySpace kicks off 29,000 sex offenders

Social networking site removes profiles of convicted sex offenders in an effort to create a better safeguard for minors.