How to stay safe when on MySpace

MySpace is a great place to make new friends but it can also be dangerous. You can stay safe on MySpace with some precautions. So let’s get started, just follow the steps below to continue.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. MySpace is public. MySpace is a public place so don’t post anything you don’t want the world to know or see. Don’t post any personal information about yourself including your phone number, house address, instant messaging screen name, or give any information about where you hang out.

2. Strangers. When you meet new people on MySpace, try to avoid meeting them in person. If you must meet someone in person, meet in a public place and bring a trusted friend along.

3. Harassment, hate speech, and inappropriate content. If someone is harassing you or sending you inappropriate pictures, comments, or messages, the best thing to do is ignore them. To take action, if they are your friend, delete them. You can stop them from sending you messages by blocking them. Go to their profile and click “block user”. To report inappropriate content, go to the bottom of the page and click “report abuse”. If you have been threatened, call the police immediately.

4. Don’t post anything embarrassing. Avoid posting photos, comments, or blogs you wouldn’t want your boss or parents to see. Someone can go back and tell them.

5. Don’t lie about your age. If you are under 14 and pretend to be older, MySpace will delete your profile. If you are over 18 and pretend to be younger to contact underage users, your profile will also be deleted.

6. Making your profile private. If you make your profile private, then only your friends can view your full profile including your blogs, pictures, and comments. To set your privacy settings, go to your home page and go to privacy settings under account settings.

7. Adjusting your privacy settings. You can specify when people add you as a friend to enter your email address or last name. You can also block group invites, picture forwarding, hide your status, and approve comments before posting onto your profile.

8. Adjusting your instant messenger privacy settings. You can block instant messages and invites from people who are not added you as a friend.

9. If you receive messages and suspect it to be spam, flag it. If you are offended, click “report abuse”. If you choose the letter option, you are taken to a screen allowing you to specify the problem with the message. So that’s it, you are done.