Social networks, blogs, photo sharing; there are many ways teens can communicate with friends and family online. Unfortunately, there are also crafty strangers, including drug dealers, who want to communicate with your teen. These people may initially seem to be harmless individuals, lure your teen in by gaining their trust, and then start encouraging risky behavior by sending links to pro-drug sites, notices of parties and so on. A search on MySpace.com, a social networking site used by millions of teens, turns up tens of thousands of people writing openly about marijuana.¹ Teens can even upload pro-marijuana quizzes, such as the one shown on this page, without a second thought about the damage it could do to their futures.

One of a parent’s biggest challenges today is simply knowing what children are doing while plugged into the Internet, which is often hours at a time. In today’s digital world, the Internet is accessible not only by computers, but also through cell phones, personal digital assistant (PDAs) and gaming devices. With so much access, it’s important for parents to know that 62 percent of online teens say that most teens do things online that they wouldn’t want their parents to know about.² If you feel like you could do a better job of monitoring your teen’s media use, you are not alone. A majority of parents (65 percent) feel they could do a better job supervising their children’s media use.³

Recent headlines have given much public attention to popular teen Web sites like MySpace and Facebook. Parental interest is piqued, but with so much information available, learning the basics can be overwhelming for parents.

Outlined below are today’s most popular social networking sites your teen may be visiting. Ask your teen if he/she has a profile on these sites and review those personal pages regularly with your teen. Not sure if your teen has a page? A simple search of any of these sites and an understanding of how they work can help you find out.

Before delving into these sites, you should become familiar with certain social networking terms and Internet lingo so you can better tell if your teens are getting into trouble, with drugs or other dangers, while they are communicating with their cyber friends.

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  An online public journal, a blog can also be an avenue for users to “talk” about particular interest areas like sports teams, television shows or musicians. Teens often use blogs to talk about their day-to-day activities.
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  A membership within a Web site where users communicate via e-mail, message boards or chat functions. Many communities are grouped by common interest, such as cheerleading or music.
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  Web sites allowing users, including teens, to get and stay connected to current friends and to make new friends.

Click here to view a complete listing of Internet lingo.

*screen shot of a popular online marijuana quiz, which teens upload to their sites with answers

Facebook 

Facebook, which started off as a social networking Web site for college students, is now open to all users. All that’s needed to join Facebook is a valid email address. Users then set up profile pages that can contain basic personal information such as relationship status, birthday and hometown, as well as favorite activities, interests, music, television shows, movies, books, quotes and class courses. Additionally, users can send messages to their friends and send invitations to events through the site. Facebook does provide privacy settings allowing people to only see the profiles of confirmed friends and other users in their networks.

Create your own profile 
Customer Support 

MySpace 

MySpace is a free service that uses the Internet for online communication. Members can personalize their own Web page and create a social, interactive environment using photos, videos, blogs, user profiles, e-mail/Instant Messaging, Web forums, and chat rooms. The minimum age to join MySpace is 14, but people of all ages participate. A youth under 14 can easily pretend to be older by simply typing in a fake birth date. The only provision these sites currently make is pulling a profile, at their discretion, if they suspect a teen is underage.

MySpace does provide some safety tips and a tutorial for parents:

Create your own profile 
Safety tips for parents 
Remove your teens profile 

Xanga 

Xanga is a free Web site providing users (also known as Xangans) the basics in creating Weblogs or “blogs.” Posts can be made public, private or password-protected, depending on the user’s preference. Upon registering, users have the option of personalizing blogs with a host of information including name, birthdate, gender, state, metro area and pictures; a “More About Me” section drills into further detail to feature nicknames, religion, heroes, interests, occupation, and Web site, as well as ways to communicate with the user online (e-mail address and a variety of instant messenger services). Xanga allows, but does not require, users to keep their last name, e-mail addresses and zip code private.

Xanga also provides safety tips and a tutorial for parents:

Create your own profile 
Safety tips for parents 
Remove your teens profile 

Bebo 

Similar in format to MySpace and gaining popularity among youth 21 and under, Bebo is a social networking Web site with more than 22 million users. Users can locate friends through a school and college search and interest in the online community by posting pictures, writing blogs, and sending messages within the Web site. Bebo was initially criticized for poorly protecting the privacy of users’ personal information including phone numbers and home addresses. In response, Bebo has hired a safety and privacy inspector based on urging from the National Council for Technology in Education (NCTE).

Create your own profile 
Safety tips for parents