This wouldn't be Capitol Valley without an occasional Facebook post.
Recent feature creeping and gaffes have led some early-adopters and users to complain that the social networking site, originally targeted to college students, has become "just like MySpace."
Today, they have another reason to say they're right.
As reported by CNN, Facebook has entered into agreements with Attorneys General from 49 states (and the District of Columbia), under which they will introduce over 40 new "features" to address alleged problems of child predators on the site, cyberbullying, and other issues, as well as create a task force to "better verify users ages and identities."
"Building a safe and trusted online experience has been part of Facebook from its outset," said Chris Kelly, Facebook's chief privacy officer. "The attorneys general have shown great leadership in helping to address the critical issue of Internet safety, and we commend them for continuing to set high standards for all players in the online arena."
Not to rain on anyone's parade here, but Facebook
had a fantastic way of verifying identities. Before opening the site to the general public, one signed on with an address from a verified network, to which your identify could be traced.
In abandoning their original strategy of connecting people online based on existing offline social networks, such as colleges and workplaces, Facebook put themselves in the same trap that MySpace was already in. In essence, this was a problem of their own making.
Now, a quick slap at CNN's coverage:
MySpace, Facebook and other online networks have created a new venue for sexual predators, who often lie about their age to lure young victims to chat, share images and sometimes meet in person. It also has spawned cyberbullies, who have sent threatening and anonymous messages to other users, sometimes classmates and others they know.
Are these actual facts? Is that news, or opinion? Any new communications system can be considered a "new venue" once it reaches critical mass, and cyberbullying dates back to AOL's glory days. Perhaps CNN could have at least backed up these bold assertions with a call to
the Pew Internet and American Life Project which has done several excellent studies on those subjects.
