Safe Blogging
Safe Blogging
i-SAFE America Inc.
5963 La Place Court Ste. 309 Carlsbad, CA 92008 Tel: (760) 603-7911
www.isafe.org
The Promise and Perils of Blogging
A place to write down your
teens is natural. Blogging has
thinks are innocent details, s/he is
thoughts and feelings, your secret become a social event. A way to
in reality drawing a roadmap to
desires and hopes for the fu-
reach out and connect and share
her house. S/he is lulled into a
ture—one that is open for anyone ideas of a personal nature in an
false sense of security by what
to read and comment on. Wel-
impersonal forum. This private
s/he sees as the anonymity of the
come to the Blog.
diary broadcast to millions of
Internet.
Blogs, or “weblogs” (“web” +
strangers is a way of getting at-
This perceived anonymity
“log”) are journals posted on the
tention while hiding behind a
gives rise to the other dangers of
Internet. These online diaries are
computer. It’s not surprising that
blogging: cyber bullying and slan-
often hosted free of charge by
blogging has so quickly become
der. Without the physical immedi-
companies who get money by
identified as a “teen” pastime.
acy of an audience, teen bloggers
placing click-through ads on the
The promise of teen blogging
are less likely to see and under-
blog pages. What distinguishes
is that it nurtures important social stand the damage their words can
the blog from any other web page skills, fills a need for self-
do. Schoolyard gossip finds its
is the format. The entries are
expression, and builds writing
way into a blog, and the target of
posted in reverse chronological
ability. And most of the time it
the gossip suffers at the hands of
order, and each entry contains an does just that. Careless blogging, unknown online assailants.
area for comments from the read- on the other hand, can be dan-
Blogs can be used to the
ers. This enables topics to be dis- gerous in many ways.
same effect by cyber bullies. The
cussed among the readers in an
The online sexual predator
damage done by cyber bullying
ongoing dialogue.
can over time can glean enough
cannot be overstated—just re-
Blogs can be written by any-
information from a blog to put to-
cently 13-year-old Ryan Halligan
one, about anything: the school
gether a personal profile of the
committed suicide as a result of
lunch, how to kill a spider, etc.
author. School name, names of
cyber bullying. Teens, especially
The over four million bloggers
friends, teachers, physical ad-
when it comes to blogs, some-
leave no conversational stone
dresses, street names, town—
times forget that anything posted
unturned. Typically, a blog con-
anything and everything can be
on the Internet has an unintended
tains links to other blogs
used by the sexual predator.
audience, and therefore, unin-
The appeal of blogging to
While the teen posts what s/he
tended consequences
Blogging: Breaking It Down
• Blogs: Journals posted on the Internet.
• Weblogs: Another name for blogs.
• Blogs are maintained in chronological order by date of post. People who read the blog are usually welcome to post replies, their
thoughts, etc. This makes most blogs interactive.
• Blogging makes the writer feel like they are writing confidentially because they are behind a screen. However, the reality is that anyone
online can read the blog. This can be dangerous.
i-SAFE America Inc.
Safe Blogging
5963 La Place Court
Ste. 309
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Protecting Your Blog
If you’re thinking of creating your own online blog, here are some tips you can follow to ensure your safety.
1. Password-protect your blog. Make sure that nobody knows your password other than your parents.
2. Do not include very personal and detailed information (places you hang
out, malls, etc.) in your blog.
3. Do not complete a profile or include name, address, phone number, school,
zip code, e-mail address, or screen name in your blog. This is exactly the kind
of information a predator is looking for, so don't do it!
4. Do not release any personal information about anyone else you know ei-
ther. Doing so would be just like telling a predator "I'm not interested in speak-
ing with you, but my best friend Chelsea would be more than happy to."
5. Pretend that you are a predator. Read your writing and see if you can pick
out details that lead to revealing personal info about you. If you come across
anything objectionable, change it so it is less identifying to the unknown and
potentially dangerous reader.
6. Do not include photos of yourself or others in your blog.
7. Do not leave your blog page open and your computer unattended. Someone could step in and write something as
you.
8. Do not spread gossip or slander about your classmates.
A Student’s Tips for Safer Blogging
It is important to realize the great
someone (usually a minor) who
Predators love to put puzzles
dangers that come along with blogs. meets an Internet “friend” in person, together. Each bit of personal infor-
Unless you want everyone on the
and then is hurt or, killed, by the
mation gives the predator a piece to
Internet to read about your personal stranger.
your life’s puzzle. Keep in mind
life, you want to keep your online
that a little information leads to
blog confidential. Keep in mind that “The predator has
bigger answers for the predator.
the Internet is very populated, and
gained information Given enough pieces, they would be
there are always going to be those
able to see your entire life story —
people, predators, who want to
about his prey, and all from the information you have
sneak into your personal life to gain often his source of
unknowingly donated to them.
information about you and cause
Keep the following tips in mind
trouble.
information is—you as you go about creating your blog.
Predators are on the Internet 24 guessed it—online These simple measures can, and
hours a day, picking a target and
most likely will, make a difference.
trying to formulate a plan to capture blogs.”
Have fun, and more importantly—
their prey. You may wonder what I
Stay safe on the Internet!
If you aren’t careful, you could find
mean by "capture." I'm sure you
By Christopher
yourself in a very uncomfortable
have heard the news stories of
A Student from Florida
and possibly dangerous situation.
