 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Formspring.me
Common Sense Media says
Q&A site offers anonymous bullies a virtual playground.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that because Formspring.me allows users to post anonymous comments, it's ripe for all kinds of misbehavior and abuse. Cyberbullying is a fact here. The site has even been mentioned in connection to a teen who committed suicide; she had been harassed on Formspring. There are no language filters, and avatars and background images can contain nudity. The site's rule is that no one under 13 is allowed to join the community; however, don't be fooled -- this site can be risky for teens. In fact, even in the Terms of Use the site warns: "you may encounter content that may be deemed objectionable, obscene or in poor taste."
What kids can learn
Formspring.me wasn't created with educational intent, and we don't recommend it for learning.
Skills
- Collaboration
- Communicationasking questions
- Creativity
- Emotional Developmentlabeling feelings, self-awareness
- Health & Fitness
- Responsibility & Ethics
- Self-Direction
- Tech Skillssocial media
- Thinking & Reasoning
What's it about?
Kids 13 and older can easily sign up by providing a username, password and email. Formspring is a social network where members connect to each other by asking questions. Members post about their mood or their interests such as, celebrities, food, movies and TV, relationships, etc. Formspring has the typical social media features- profile page to ask questions, inbox to receive messages, “like” a post with a smile, and the ability to share with their friends on Facebook or Twitter. The site also has famous members like Rotten Tomatoes and Jerry Bruckheimer that kids can follow.
Is it any good?
The trend in combining anonymity with social networking has taken a new novel turn with FORMSPRING.ME. Here users create accounts with the sole purpose of having questions hurled at them, which they subsequently answer. It's the perfect way to remain safely unknown while delving into personal, profound, and yes, inappropriate territory. In the minimal style of Twitter, Q&As are brief little interactions, with little room for depth. Most of the questions and answers for that matter are tongue-in-cheek taunts and sarcastic comments, so it's doubtful there's going to be any profound information presented here. But beware -- taunts can easily turn into harassment; if your teens use this site, encourage them to use more restrictive privacy settings.
Online interaction: Most of the questions are mocking, rude, or just silly, but some venture into more dangerous bullying and harassment territory.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about protecting your privacy while social networking. Just because someone asks you a question online, does it mean you have to answer it?
Talk about cyberbullying and the risks of sites like this. Why shouldn't you take anonymous comments seriously? Do you behave differently if your name is attached to a comment?
Talk about the rules of safe social networking. How should you behave and what information and content should you share? Parents, brush up on social networks like Facebook.
What kids can learn
Formspring.me wasn't created with educational intent, and we don't recommend it for learning.
Skills
- Collaboration:
- Communication: asking questions
- Creativity:
- Emotional Development: labeling feelings, self-awareness
- Health & Fitness:
- Responsibility & Ethics:
- Self-Direction:
- Tech Skills: social media
- Thinking & Reasoning:
- Show:
- All members
- Parents
- Teens & kids
AGE
I don't know how the creator of this site can sleep at night knowing they made this... -.-
Formspring is technically an invitation to be a cyberbully and be cyberbullied yourself. I have never opened an account, but I know tons of people who have, and the questions they're asked range from dirty to cruel. Take a look at the Phoebe Prince case! I don't know what kind of a disgusting sham of a person could live with knowing they created a website that was responsible for the death of a young girl and the hurt feelings of many others. Formspring is a website to be avoided by not only kids and teens, but adults as well.
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AGE
TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE!
Hi, I am in Junior High. Every single parent of each child at my school recently got an e-mail from the president of my school saying to go on formspring, type in their child's name to see what they were writing. That day during school, every single parent was looking up and reading the profiles of their child and child's friends. Also, ALL THE TEACHERS WERE LOOKING AT THE ACCOUNTS OF THEIR STUDENTS. My mom told me that she was disgusted by the accounts of children that she had taught. This website is absolutely disgusting. The worse thing about it is that it is anonymous. Anyone can go on and ask people anything they want. This is not a Q and A site. People have turned the anonymous questions into things like, "Wanna have sex?"; "Why are you so ugly?" "Why does everyone hate you?" and things far worse than you could every imagine. Just about every page you look at has dozens of cuss words and inappropriate content. I was shocked at how many of the kids in my grade had received questions like, "Lets go have sex" AND THEY REPLIED "SURE!" DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE IT IS A DISGRACE. By the end of the day that the President of my school sent out the e-mail, every single account was deleted.
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AGE
One of the more annoying recent internet fads, but not bad.
Good website. Admittedly, conversations can get heated and often sexual, but it's a good site for most. Stop scaremongering.
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AGE
Formspring should be shut down.
Hate the idea.
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AGE
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
I will absolutely never go on this website ever again. One time was more than enough. If my mom knew about it and knew I went on it once, she would kill me. While I did have a good conversation or two and met a few nice people, there is hardly a good person on here. Naked men, scary masks, bongs, rude people, signs asking to show your chest, college party drinking, etc. And more than one person thought it was necessary to tell me how ugly I am. Don't even bother hitting the report button, because nothing will change. Just don't waste your time. You'll be scarred for life. It doesn't even deserve one star. This website needs to be shut down.
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AGE
Most Dangerous Social Networking Site Out There
This dangerous Website for teens features cyberbullying ("I can't wait to kick your ***"), inappropriate questions ("Did you know I slept with your boyfriend?"). I don't recommend this site for anyone under the age of 25. Teenagers use it because they like being asked about themselves, but the content invariably sinks to bullying, name calling, and sexual discussions.
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AGE
Formspring's all right, but you're unlikely to get questions unless you're popular, and if you get any questions, it's likely to be hate comments from cowards who won't say sh-t to your face. It's useful to people who have tons of people they're in contact with, but otherwise, there's no point.
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AGE
Good with a little common sense
Most likely, the ones asking your kids questions will be their friends- or at least people they know and gave their username to. I don't think many people pick a random name and ask the random person questions.
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AGE
It is hurtful.
I am a Formspring user and this is my experience with it. After just registering, a day later, I had 4 questions. 2 were generated by Formspring, one was a simple "Hi" and another goes like this, "EWWW im sorry but your so f*cking ugly!! you wil NEVER have a boyfriend. trust me." I deleted it. Even though people do that even if they don't mean it, it still hurt. As the days went on, I got some normal questions and I answered. On day, I got this message, "hey will i think ur kinda attractive and i was wondering who you think in the 8th grade is hot?"
Inside I was flattered, it seemed to make up for the mean comment before. I answered saying I didn't want to say and he gave up. I logged on the next day. 6 questions. "Ew! he actually thought you were pretty??" "ya i was looking at ur formspring and i thought you were pretty. then i saw you in person and i threw up." "im speaking on behalf of the 8th grade guys, YOU ARE SO F*CKING UGLY." "ugly. F*CK OFF B*TCH" "eww you are ugly" "what is your fave color?"
I was hurt. I tried not to show it, but my self-esteem was decreasing by every comment. Nobody came and defended me. All one of my friends did was post, "bahahaha! you got bashed by the 8th grade guys" Whatever. I deleted my account. I'm still afraid that everyday I could be passing the jerks who sent me those comments.
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AGE
Good for friends
It's perfectly safe as long as you only talk to your friends. It's really fun to link it to your facebook too. Only show your formspring to your friends and you'll be fine. If your friends are giving you inappropriate or mean questions then maybe they shouldn't be your friends.
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| Genre: | Social Networking |
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