Recently I found a Myspace profile created for a 15 month old baby. The mother is the other woman to the father to my neighbor's children. She often hacks his profile. This girl is notorious for putting last names of everybody out there. Even to children who are not her own.
I reported her son's profile for the reasoning that she listed his age in the about me section, which is 15 months. Though she put 18 years old on the main information. She also listed where he lives, which is a small town. His first middle and last name. The girl also went on to list both of his parent's first and last names. This child is in foster care, and neither parent will eer have rights again, so he is slightly more protected, but I thought this was disgusting.
Identity theft is rising rapidly, and it is becoming easier to find somebody's details. Many young people lay it all out there on public profiles. Children are not safe from this crime.
There are also so many perverts out there. Some may be satisfied to browse and find pictures of little kids. Some specifically search for areas close to them. Adding your children's names and locations like that is almost asking for somebody to hurt them....
This is a sad world we live in. Which is why I take some extra measures to protect my son.
I have a myspace profile, like millions of other mothers. I am keen on custom layouts, which I design myself. So I cover up all the information. My profile is simple yet nice. My profile is public because I hate the look of private profiles, but I put all my pictures as friends only. I have more of Michael than anything.
I also keep a blog specific for Michael. Though I would like to add pictures, I refrain since it is public blog. I keep the information to the type you would talk to a child about. Nothing too personal or revealing.
I just cannot believe these mothers who put their little kids out there like they do. Especially on social networks like Myspace... It is nearly as bad as the young teens who put their whole lives online...
That is my vent for the day...
OK, I'm not young and hip
OK, I'm not young and hip enough to have a MySpace or Facebook profile, and I certainly don't have my own website. This is pretty much my only posting ground. If I ever put in Too Much Information, do me a favor and let me know so I can remove it! Thanks everyone.
You do not need to be young
You do not need to be young for sites like Myspace. My oldest Aunt is active on the site. There are plenty of grandparents online.
I would not worry as much on this site. I guess there are pervs everywhere, but you would never put such personal details here like that stupid girl...
Of course, my dilemma is a
Of course, my dilemma is a little different because my son is of legal age now and he does have a say in what I post here and he does have absolute legal control over what he puts up about himself online. Although I have few worries about him succumbing to exploitation at this point, I generally feel I should be careful with his information so that I don't inadvertently make him unnecessarily vulnerable - particularly to those who have already bullied him in the past.
I think the Internet can be both a blessing and a curse for people with autism. For me, I get a great deal of strength from the postings on this site and I feel like we are all becoming somewhat friends even though we live so far apart from each other. Social networking sites like myspace have also helped many young people find jobs and advance their careers..
They have also destroyed careers and caused people to get fire. This is part of the darker side of the Internet. Even worse, exploiters of all kinds are out there and making us all a little paranoid (with good reason).
Of course, we'll all drawn the line in different places (wherever we feel most comfortable); but training my son to be careful on the Internet has been a challenge; one that we're still working on. It has taken a great deal of effort to keep in touch with what he's done online and sometimes his autism makes him stubborn about certain things he's written that I've advised against. He certainly generally reveals more about himself than I think I do..
Part of the revealing may be
Part of the revealing may be a symptom of age, more than anything. I look at myself and think how much my online presense has changed. I used to blab just about anything personal (well not too extreme) a few years ago. I guess we learn as we grow.
You are right about the internet and careers. Imagine the drama co-workers can unravel thinking paths would not be crossed online. I know many higher-end jobs actually look up people online.