Managing online identity in social networking sites Karl Hopwood 26 September 2011

Reputation.... Gossip can unfairly stain a person’s reputation; it often exists as a bundle of half-truths and incomplete tales.

What are they doing in there? Good or “normal”… “Social producing” Learning social rules Decorating profiles (self- expression) Exploring identity Writing blogs Writing software code Sharing/producing music Producing & editing videos Discussing interests Social/political activism Keeping in touch with friends long-term Risk assessment

What else are they doing in there? Neutral or negative… Seeking validation Competing in a popularity contest Venting Showing off Embarrassing themselves Pulling pranks Getting even Harassing

Inability to manage, appreciate and understand risk.... No thought of consequence The technologies may change, but human nature will remain the same

‘How can we come to any harm when we are sitting at home, nothing really bad can happen’. 15 year old girl

The ‘Net effect’ How the Internet changes the equation... Disinhibition: Lack of visual cues reduces empathy Persistence & searchability: Net as permanent searchable archive Replicability: ability to copy and paste from anywhere, to anywhere Scalability: high potential visibility Invisible audiences: you never know who’s watching Blurring of public and private: boundaries not clear Source: danah boyd: Taken out of Context, 2008

Think before you post Some adults will make a split second decision based on what they see and young people may have to live with the consequences of that…

Use the privacy settings… You can approve any photo or content you’ve been tagged in before it is visible via your profile – you need to enable this function as it is off by default.

Resist the temptation to gossip…

“Frape” Take privacy seriously…

Top ten passwords password pussy dragon 8.qwerty 9.baseball 10.football child’s name +DOB pet’s name favourite pop singer favourite celebrity partner’s name iloveyou

Explicitly teach these skills Rather than banning, we need to educate.... It doesn’t need to be complicated.... Behaviour not technology….

Researchers were: – “surprised by the extent to which students appeared to lack even some of the most basic information literacy skills that we assumed they would have mastered in high school.”

7 FEBRUARY 2012 Connecting generations Further information is available from SID Safer Internet Day – let’s work together Discovering the digital world together…. safely!

Thank you!