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Teen Bloggers Offer Too Much Information
John Stith
Staff Writer
2006-02-21
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
A new study of teen bloggers, aged 13 to 17, turned a lot of new and useful information about teen bloggers. Unfortunately, some of that information wasn't so good. Teenagers tend to open up on their online diaries and in so doing reveal all kinds of information like names, phone numbers and details of their life.
The problem is there are people out there who will use this information against them. David Huffaker, a researcher at Northwestern conducted the study through the technology and social behavior program with Professor Justine Cassell on 68 randomly selected teenage blogs.
Huffaker commented that from a developmental perspective, blogs play a positive role by offering teens a place to construct narratives and share stories. "These activities are important to identity exploration which is one of the principal tasks of adolescence," he says. "What's more, the mechanics of these online diaries, with their opportunities to link to and get feedback from peers, also aid teenagers in creating and maintaining social ties."
Almost half of all the blogs included discussions about boyfriends, girlfriends, or attractions to someone in the form of a "crush." Seventeen percent of those who wrote about their own sexuality discussed homosexuality and their experiences of "coming out."
Not surprisingly, 71 percent included commentary about school-related topics, such as grades, homework, high school, college or college pressure. Almost half of the online diaries discussed aspects of music, including use of MP3 players, songs, lyrics, favorite bands and concerts.
Huffaker found that the positive effects of blogging on verbal and digital literacy and social interaction to be accompanied by some negative effects."The danger of sexual predation by adult strangers and of bullying by peers are sometimes unfortunate products of the teen blogging phenomenon, he says.
Unlike the tattered, leatherbound teen diary of old, online teen diaries can be read not only by members of the family "sneaking a look" but also by strangers with questionable intentions.
Huffaker cites a study in which 2,500 children aged 10 to 17 years of age reported being harassed or threatened online. In another study, one in five teenage Internet users said they'd been approached or received a sexual solicitation within their last year of Internet use. One in 33 reported being aggressively solicited by predators who asked to meet them, called them on the phone, or sent them letters, money or gifts.
Despite their apparent frequency, these incidents of predation seldom were reported by teens to parents, school administrators or other authorities, according to the surveyed teens.
Huffaker says some of the negatives of blogging can be thwarted by blog software packages that offer the opportunity to make one's online diary "friends-only" by including password protection.
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About the Author:
John is a staff writer for SecurityProNews covering cyber security.
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