What Just Happened?


Caroline just did something more common than you'd expect: she created her own blog without a clue about the safety risks. She didn't stop to consider that the default setting for her site is "viewable by the public" and that anyone with Internet access can see everything she's shared, including

  • Her name

  • Her friends' names

  • Her family members' names

  • Pictures of herself and others

  • Where she lives

  • Where she goes to school

  • That she's lonely and fighting with her mother

  • That their house will be empty next week

It never occurred to Caroline that anyone other than her friends can read her blog, that her information is now searchable by Internet search engines, or that she might have placed herself, her family, her home, her friends, and her possessions in harm's way.

Let me be clear about this: There is nothing at all "bad" about public blogs or other publicly posted content as long as you consider and make a clear decision about what you feel is appropriate to share with the public. There are literally millions of wonderful public blogs that are not placing their authors at any risk. But if you share personally identifying information about yourself or others, you should do so with a full understanding that this could easily be used by others.

Find Out More

See Chapter 17, "Talking About Safety," for information about how to create a family discussion guide to set parameters for online behavior in your family.


What Is a Blog?

Blogs, short for Web logs, first appeared when journalists in remote places wanted to post stories and commentary about their war-time experiences that they couldn't get out through other communication channels. Blogs then went mainstream, becoming personal online journals where entries could be posted by the blog owner and comments added by those visiting the blog. This frequent updating and interaction makes blogs much more dynamic than most Web sites. Each blog entry usually contains a title, a profile of the author, a date stamp, photos, and the poster's comments. They might also contain lists of favorite music and books, maps, videos, search tools, quizzes, and so on. Businesses and organizations have also jumped on the blogging bandwagon to offer information-rich sites that encourage interaction among their readers or users.

Blogs are social networking sites (Web sites that connect people and allow them to communicate with each other) if the blog owner includes contacts in the blog so that visitors (select friends and family or the public) can communicate with those people and thereby extend their networks.




Look Both Ways. Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
Look Both Ways: Help Protect Your Family on the Internet
ISBN: 0735623473
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 157
Authors: Linda Criddle

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