Security Issues Prompt MySpace To Hire A Security Officer

This from the New York Times:

"Because of concern by parents and school and law enforcement officials that the site sometimes unwittingly makes young people vulnerable to child pornographers or predators, the company has hired Hemanshu Nigam, director of consumer security outreach and child safe computing at the Microsoft Corporation, to oversee safety, education and privacy programs and law enforcement affairs."

I don't think that one day goes by without me seeing at least one safety-focussed MySpace story; however, bottom line is that if parents are going to allow kids on the Internet without proper boundaries or supervision, things are going to happen, whether it's on MySpace or anywhere else.

And speaking of MySpace: You might have been following the MySpace experiment that I started last month; here's a few follow up links to that.

• The MySpace Experiment Continues: "I've had a whole plethora of emails sent to me talking about my MySpace experiment, mostly parents who share my concerns about children (and that's anyone under 17) making inappropriate contacts on MySpace. I've also received the other end of the spectrum; folks who are using MySpace for the use that it was (apparently) intended for, and that's basically an online flirting/dating service."
• The MySpace Experiment and a Few MySpace Links: "I like MySpace. This one surprised me, since I've heard far more bad stuff about MySpace than good; mostly to do with parents lamenting lack of control over their kids on Myspace, etc. MySpace is one of the very few social networking sites that I've actually stuck with. It doesn't require a ton of overly complicated input from me, in fact, it's been pretty low maintenance yet self-sustaining, always a good combination. The experiment is officially over, but I intend to keep on using MySpace."

And a few MySpace articles/tutorials I wrote up as I was trying to figure stuff out over there:

• How To Put Premade MySpace Layouts in Your MySpace Profile: Figuring out where to put these MySpace layouts can be extremely confusing, but after this little tutorial, you should be able to do it no problem.
• How to Add Music to MySpace: Adding background music to your MySpace profile is as easy as pie.
• Free Premade MySpace Layouts: Good MySpace layouts are a bit difficult to find amongst all the truly ghastly ones out there on the Web. Here's a few of my favorite sites.