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This is a very timely question in light of the [url http://news.com.com/Congress+targets+social+network+sites/2100-1028_3-6071040.html ]DOPA act[/url] that has been introduced into Congress. The proposed legislation would do more than block MYSpace at a few libraries.

"[the law] says that libraries, elementary and secondary schools must prohibit "access to a commercial social-networking Web site or chat room through which minors" may access sexual material or be "subject to" sexual advances."

I'm curious about the nature of the "legal incidents" you experienced, if you are free to elaborate at all. This is a hot issue for sure!

We have had one parent ask us to ban MySpace, but it doesn't seem fair to hurt legitimate users because of a few nuts. We did have a guy from CA get arrested after setting up a meeting with a minor at one of our local motels, so attention is high. We plan to offer a program for parents this fall on MySpace, MyYearbook, and all the others.

mstanaland, if you have a computer policy, and it forbids porn, then zap that guy with a policy violation.

>but I'm sure we can all agree that true democracy only works in moral society.

Yes, sort of like how dictatorships are the most effective type of government :-)

It looks like [url http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2006/07/flickr-libraries-scary-scary-scary-to-some-folks.html ]Flickr is under attack now[/url].

Hi all! I just saw this on The Shifted Librarian blog. I am going to recommend this article to all my libraries.

"Shifting Libraries at the speed of byte!

* Updated: Thu, Sep 14 2006 4:34 PM

Rational US News Article on MySpace

By Jenny

Good US News & World Report article on MySpace. I was hesitant to buy the latest issue of U.S. News & World Report because the cover story is about What Parents Need to Know about MySpace: Your Guide to a Kid’s World on the Internet, but in the end I figured it would be good fodder for a blog post about hyperbole in the media. My eyes started rolling on page 48 when I read, “To many parents, who may have gotten an eyeful of its sometimes titillating profiles and photos, MySpace seems like Lake Wobegon gone horribly wrong: a place where all the women are fast, the men are hard-drinking, and the children take an above-average interest in imitating them.”

However, the further I read, the more my eyebrows arched in surprise, impressed with both the content and the tone of the article. I highly recommend it, and I think every public library director should make sure her board members and staff read it. In fact, I’d love to see a collaboration between ALA , state library associations or libraries, or even just local libraries with U.S. News to distribute the article to parents through libraries. It only mentions the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) in passing, but it helps illustrate that parents can do far more than this legislation ever would and that online social networking is now a fact of life. It would be like banning email, which you’ll notice Congress isn’t debating, even though it’s a form of online social networking. Hmmmmm….

As Stephen Abram said at the South Carolina Public Library Technology Institute yesterday in response to a question about this legislation, we don’t teach our kids to drive by removing all of the roads.

“Parenting in this virtual world doesn’t require a whole new set of skills, though a little technological savvy sure doesn’t hurt. What it does require is a willingness to pay attention, ask a lot of questions, and set some rules and stick by them, even at the risk of making your kids mad at you-familiar parenting territory.

But too often, that’s not happening. Parents who would never allow their child to go to a party unless they knew that an adult would be present let their kids pilot themselves through the online world without any supervision whatsoever. A June survey of 267 pairs of teens and parents in the Los Angeles metropolitan area by a psychology professor at California State University-Dominguez Hills found that two thirds of parents had never talked with their teen about their MySpace use, and 38 percent of them had never seen their child’s MySpace profile. ‘Parents are chicken,’ says Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy lawyer and executive director of WiredSafey.org, a nonprofit aimed at keeping kids safe online that has trained 450 teenagers in online safety and sends them out to speak to schools and other groups. ‘They don’t understand the technology, so they’re reluctant to get involved.’

But this is not the time to give in to your inner technophobe. You may have never sent an instant message, uploaded a video, or written a blog, but you can help your kids develop the judgment to better protect their safety online and set standards that will help guide their behavior. This is especially important since legislation that recently passed the House of Representatives and is currently under consideration by the Senate would ban social-networking sites from schools and libraries, leaving parents as the only consistent adult arbiter of their children’s day-to-day social-networking behavior.”

The article goes on to make specific recommendations for talking to your kids about MySpace and similar sites, and it explains that how the term “friends” online is very different for kids than it is for adults. There’s even a great graphic that dissects a sample MySpace account and warns what to watch for. It’s interesting that the author listed a few specific, online applications, and I’d love to see public libraries pick up on that. This article could be the basis for a lecture (or better yet, a hands-on class) for parents to help them proactively help their children online. Why not let them play with instant messaging, uploading video, and writing blog posts on the library’s computers? Let’s partner with Wired Safety to train more kids in more communities and grow this resource. What better way to help educate and connect them to their kids’ online worlds, while also showing that parents don’t need to rely on government to raise their kids?

Since a form of the House's DOPA legislation may still come up in the Senate during the current session, it’s important librarians understand the impact of this type of legislation. ALA is working on a couple of things that I’ll point to soon, but if you haven’t been tracking this or have only heard the hype about the issue, please make sure you read this article (and its sidebars). ALA’s Washington Office has been great in educating me that the language of these bills is really more about banning “interactive web applications” from school and library computers, not just “social networking” sites or MySpace. It’s much broader than most people realize. You might not use – or even understand why someone else would use – MySpace, but everyone online uses interactive web applications. Remember, one of the legislators voting on your use of “interactive web applications” in a public library is the same person that thinks those applications would be delivered via internet tubes."

Linda, thanks for sharing this article. Jenny Levine is one of the brightest lights and is leading the way with social software for libraries. If she recommends that all library directors read the article, I trust her insight.

Here's a link to Jenny's blog for those who want to keep up with "shifting at the speed of byte": http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/

Yeah, I've got the MySpace: Unraveled book but haven't had time to read it yet.

I appreciate hearing about the experiences you all have had. I don't know much about My Space but realize that it is an important consideration for libraries across America.

Related to this, there's a new AP report on how half of all MySpace members are now over 35: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20061006/D8KIT3IO0.html

Here is this librarian's "myspace"
http://www.myspace.com/98948538

It is public so anyone can view it. But to see yourself in my friend list, you have to request it from me and have your own space. All the people in my friend list are people that I have contacted with a "friend request" or they have contacted me and I granted their request. There are people from my town, young adult authors, and other librarians. All of them are there because myself and they have agreed to be there.

What you have to be prepared for is that these are public / up close and personal / social spaces. People (especially the young) don't hide their personalities behind political correctness. I find it very refreshing but others find this offensive. It is up to you to decide which camp you fall into.

Check mine out and see how MySpace can be used as a positive influence because I --- choose --- to use it that way.

Oh and PS - If hard rock doesn't appeal to you - do not click on the music player. Saliva's "Click Click Boom" is one of my favorite songs and I have it on my profile.