from myspace.com
MySpace will soon release software that lets parents check certain parts of their kids' MySpace profiles. The company admitted to the software (named Zephyr, presumably to evoke the breeze left in kids' wakes as they abandon MySpace) after the Wall Street Journal broke it today.
Using Zephyr, parents can see the user name, reported age, and reported location of anyone who logs into MySpace from a computer with the software installed — but the rest of the profile remains closed. This theoretically moves the burden of obeying MySpace's age rules — users must be 14 to use the site and 16 to let strangers see their profiles — to parents. The scant information (which will still be enough to scare kids who want privacy from their parents) shows that MySpace isn't doing this because it wants to save the children from the alleged scourge of online predators. Instead, the company is placating child-protection advocates and state governments.
But as sociologist and MySpace apologist danah boyd (sic) has long argued, the threat of online predators is blown out of proportion. From 1990 to 2000, substantiated cases of sexual abuse dropped 50%. Even more damning, over 78% of sexual abuse against minors is committed by parents, and only 5% is committed by someone outside the victim's offline community. The "dozens of cases" that the Journal cites are a staggeringly low number, considering that MySpace has 60 million monthly users, including over 12 million children and teens. Zephyr doesn't provide a direct way to detect sexual harassment; it merely gives a sense of security to parents who won't trust their kids to share their profiles willingly. Kids can easily sidestep Zephyr by using a friend's computer. While MySpace should certainly find a way to curb existing sexual abuse, the small bit of parental disclosure provided by this program will likely change very little. Kids know it, MySpace knows it, but both should hope Zephyr fools those who want to "save the children" at the cost of their privacy.
Related, notwithstanding the foregoing:
MySpace Seminar [SNL]
