Two views of MySpace

I've recently received emails representing two interesting perspectives on teens blogging at MySpace - one from a 20-year-old musician in Florida who blogs there himself and one from a librarian in the Midwestern US (she asked that the state not be named) about blogging happening at her library. The musician wrote in part that his "main problem with it is that obviously it's not meant for people under the age of 16 at the least… I mean, I'm about building a good fanbase and networking with other musicians, but there are a lot of kids just wasting time on there ... they're passing along chain letters about all sorts of subjects, including alcohol and sex.... I try not to upset them but I warn them about being on a website like this, putting up pictures of themselves and talking about what schools they go to, with links to their friends. If someone dangerous wanted to find them, this effectively makes it much easier. I mean, they don't give out any home addresses in their information, but when you have under-16s who have posted what school they go to, where it is, and their interests, correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel this is a potential breeding pool for predators." Please see this week's issue of my newsletter for more.