Want to be my friend?

You might have the innocent intention of making friends. But do be aware of the perverts hidden amongst the other users in the various social networking sites.

Not sure if you came across the fake Osama & some other famous personality on Friendster. Obviously it's not the real Osama my students would say. The real one is too busy running away from the police. Hahah! Well think a bit deeper. If there can be "fake famous people" why can't there be "fake average guy/gal"?


Summarised version (by kermit for easy reading):
Warnings over social site 'abuse'
Social networking sites like MySpace, Bebo have been gaining great popularity among the teenagers.
A study of the sites by the consumer watchdog unearthed pornographic images, evidence of bullying and inappropriate adverts. It also proved easy to pose as a child as the sites did no age or ID checks. "Teenage users need to be aware that there is no way of knowing who is behind the face of a 'friend'," said Jessica Ross, Computing Which? editor.
One researcher was able to pose as a 14-year-old on MySpace as the site did not require identification or carry out an age check.
Ms Ross said: "Networking sites, such as myspace.com and bebo.com, need to do more to protect their millions of trusting members."

Full version
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5344722.stm