28 th January 2008 The Jitty

Why do we use the Internet? Communication Information Entertainment Escapism Attention seeking Genuinely seeking help Showcasing/promoting your talents Discussion and Debate Procrastination

The Risks? Identity theft Cyber bullying Harassment Grooming IT security Inappropriate content Phishing Mis-information and hearsay The party that got out of hand

What have we learnt? There is no anonymity Don’t display anything that you wouldn’t want on the front page of a newspaper Don’t make yourself uniquely identifiable on the internet People are not always who they seem If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.

Pictures Music Travels Friends OVER 100 MILLION 58 MILLION

We Can See You..! Personal information Date of birth Address Phone number Insert random screen shot here!!

Private? (insert msn smiley here) Messaging Friend request Maybe have picture of Tom from myspace or a ‘insert to add’ shot

Self confidence Self – image Risk to themselves Who exactly are you? Identity theft

So how can we learn from this? Well here's a few pointers: make your profile as private as possible keep as much personal info off your profile as possible be sure of who your talking to, if you really feel the need to talk to people you don't know, be very careful what you say to them and how much you reveal about yourself don't pretend to be someone you're not, if people don't accept you for who you are they're not worth your attention

Gaming X-Fire. MMO. Machinima. Why people play (and for how long)? Social Structure Social interaction within games. Live text- based chat and voice chat. Competitive gaming, leagues, tournaments.

Gaming Discrimination in a seemingly anonymous environment. How it is hard to moderate all forms of chat within games.

Online Chat No guarantee of who you are talking to People from all over the world have access Onlookers may be online who are not involved in the conversation Chat room often links to profile page, which might include personal information. No option to save conversation

Instant Messaging Slightly more private – need to have persons address for conversation Option to save conversation BUT Can have multiple people talking in one conversation – risk of bullying File transfer – risk of viruses Lack of moderation Profile pictures, commonly links to social networking profiles Webcam / Video / Phone conversations

Security Passwords Alphanumeric advised Do not use any personal information, which might be easily guessed for example: –Name –Date of birth –Children’s name –Favourite Celebrity Some websites disallow such passwords, others don’t

Peer mentoring Because the best messengers can be the young people themselves.

Any Questions?

Thank you for your time