Social Networking - Research and Guidance
Good Practice Guidance for the Providers of Social Networking and other User Interactive Services 2008
The first UK Social Networking Guidance provides advice for industry, parents and children about how to stay safe online. This has been developed by a taskforce of representatives from industry, charity and law enforcement agencies including Vodafone, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). Available to download from the Home Office website at:
Young People and Social Networking Sites
A new report evaluating the potential educational benefits to individual users, as well as outlining some of the opportunities that educators and schools using social networking services might take advantage of, plus some of the barriers and risks to using social networking in education.
Ofcom Report into Social Networking
Ofcom, the media regulator has published a report looking into the impact of social networks on people's lives in the UK as part of a wider media literacy campaign and surveyed 5,000 adults and more than 3,000 children.
The research shows More than a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds in the UK have a profile on a social network, despite a minimum age of 13 to 14 being set by most social network sites. 41 per cent of children leave their privacy settings as default 'open' which means that their profiles are visible to anyone.
The report reveals a "significant difference" between the perception of the risks and use of social networks between parents and children. While 65% of parents said they set rules for the way their children used social networking sites, only half of children said their families had laid down restrictions. A further 43% said their parents placed no limits on what they could use sites for. Parents who are allowing their children to go online without supervision need to recognise their children are potentially at risk.
Press release
Social Networking: A quantitative and qualitative research report into attitudes, behaviours and use - April 2008
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