Safety and privacy settings on FaceBook and MySpace are alike

MySpace claims the title as probably the most well-liked social networking website, with about 247 million members. Facebook is also huge but had about half as many registered users, some 124 million at the start of 2009.

Other big players, along with their estimated membership, include Friendster (90 million) and Classmates (50 million). Websites popular in the United Kingdom, Europe, and other parts of the world include Habbo (100 million), Orkut (67 million), Bebo (40 million), and Badoo (13 million).

Most of the main sites provide a fairly fl exible collection of safety features and settings intended to protect users from being contacted by people with out their permission and to keep a tight lid on the privacy of personal profiles. Some work better than other people, and none of them will work if you do not follow safety recommendations or maintain your password and user name secret. Following are some of the settings provided by MySpace and Facebook; other sites offer similar choices.

Private Profile.

If you select to make your profile "private," then only those individuals you give permission to can see the details and other information you list. Your home page, though, will probably be viewable by anyone; anything listed there should be something you do not mind the world seeing. Depending on the service you use, you may be able to limit viewing only to your "friends" or those you include in your "network."

In Facebook, you can limit the capability of other people to see just about any individual piece of information. And you can also click on the instruction to "see how a buddy sees your profile" to examine the effect of privacy settings you have made; make certain that items you want to remain hidden cannot be seen.

Do you would like anyone to have the ability to see your home page, or just those on your friends list? If you allow anyone to find you, do you want to allow him or her to send you a message? Do you would like them to see your list of friends?

Block An additional User.

If you are contacted by someone you do not know or someone you don't want to hear from, you can stop the individual from attempting to reach you through the social network. To complete this in MySpace, you need to go to the page of the user who has contacted you and find the "Block User" link; click on it and confirm this is what you really wish to do.

And please realize that blocking someone within a social network does not do anything to stop someone from contacting you if they have your e-mail address, your street address, or your telephone number.

If you are concerned that this person is really a threat to your personal safety or might commit other crimes, you need to immediately discuss the scenario with your parents or a trusted adult or get in touch with your nearby police department. MySpace and most other social network sites also ask you to notify them through their "Contact" link so they can assist.

Preapprove Comments.

Unless you change this setting, any of your friends or other people who are in a position to see your page can leave a comment. If you want to be able to look at all comments and determine regardless of whether or not they should be permitted to be displayed, turn on "preapprove comments."

Turn Off the "Online Now" Icon.

Most networks, including MySpace, automatically notify anyone who visits your page if you are online now and accessible to chat. If you would rather not announce that, go to account settings and eliminate the check mark subsequent to "Show Individuals When I'm Online."

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