For Internet Safety Month, Common Sense Media conducted a comparative analysis of the top social networking sites for kids and teens, ages 9-17. Find out all about your kids' favorite sites, and ways to stay safe online, in our full report. You can also download a snapshot of our ratings grid.
Download the Report >> (pdf: 528k)Download Ratings Grid >> (pdf: 215k)Remember, with just a few simple rules, parents can help their children safely navigate these new social playgrounds:
- Keep personal information like your name, school, age, phone number and address private.
- Keep passwords private. Parents should know kids' passwords.
- Use privacy settings.
- Report inappropriate content or contact, especially cyber-bullying.
- Use age-appropriate sites: Studies suggest that kids as young as 9 and 10 are getting profiles on Facebook and MySpace, where kids are supposed to be at least 13 and 14, respectively, to get a profile.
- Post responsibly. Even with privacy settings, this is the World Wide Web. If your kids would not want to see their words or images on a public billboard, they should not post them on a page.
MySpace
Helpful safety feature: Privacy controls make it easy to limit who can see your profile or send you an instant message.
Needs improvement: It's not always easy to flag inappropriate content, and the site relies largely on users for policing.
Parents need to know: If someone posts inappropriate material on your page, it's easy to block them so they can no longer communicate with you or post on your page.
Learn more about the site: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/MySpace.html
Facebook
Helpful safety feature: Users have lots of control over which, if any, parts of their profiles are public.
Needs improvement: Filing a complaint isn't easy, and you can't flag certain types of content.
Parents need to know: Here's a tip for more privacy: Disable Facebook's "Beacon," which reports users' activities on third-party sites, by visiting this link: http://www.facebook.com/privacy/?view=feeds&tab=external. Click the box that reads, "Don't allow any websites to send stories to my profile."
Learn more about the site: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/Facebook.html
Bebo
Helpful safety feature: The staff is fast to respond to complaints and offers clear information on how to deal with problems. The bottom of each page has a link to a safety section, with a video on how to report abuse.
Needs improvement: You can't tailor which parts of your profile are private.
Parents need to know: There's no way to make certain parts of your profile friends-only, so parents should make sure their kids leave parts of their profile blank if they wouldn't want everyone to see that information.
Learn more about the site: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/Bebo.html
YouTube
Helpful safety feature: The complaint form for reporting a video is very detailed, so the staff can fully investigate complaints.
Needs improvement: The form to report bullying behavior is difficult to find.
Parents need to know: The "safe search" filter removes videos that are "not suitable" for minors. Here's the link: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=57709
Learn more about the site: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/YouTube.html
Club Penguin
Helpful safety feature: Easy-to-use, age-appropriate flagging features for iffy content.
Needs improvement: Complaint response is slow-four days is unacceptable for a kids' site.
Parents need to know: Click on the "ignore" or "report a player" if someone is being inappropriate. Or, get a moderator involved in the chat by selecting the "M" button.
Learn more about the site: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/Club-Penguin.html
Webkinz
Helpful safety feature: During the registration process, the site spells out (via an animated bird) some good safety tips for kids.
Needs improvement: You have to really dig to find a customer service e-mail address.
Parents need to know: The only part of the site where kids could encounter inappropriate or bullying behavior is in the KinzChat Plus open chat area, which, when we looked into it was closed as Webkinz updates its filters and security features.
Learn more about the site: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/Webkinz.html
Neopets
Helpful safety feature: Flagging abusive or inappropriate content is easy and the Help section is very thorough.
Needs improvement: Slow, ineffective response to complaint about mean behavior on chat boards.
Parents need to know: Unless kids restrict contact to Neofriends, adults could send kids a Neomail. Make sure to check your kids' Neopets inbox - not their personal email account - for emails from the site.
Learn more about the site: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/Neopets.html
