I am an avid Facebook user. I log into my account multiple times a day to update my status, comment on pictures, and read interesting tidbits on the Newsfeed. In short, I'm a fan of this social networking website and seldom have critiques for it-provided that it is utilized in a cautious manner. However, even I have severe doubts and heavy criticism regarding the Facebook Places feature. For those who haven't seen it or used it themselves, this is Facebook's new service that allows members to "check in" and pinpoint their exact current location. Some use it to publicize restaurants they have visited while others use it to state that they are at "Amanda's house."

Since its inception, this feature has caused much hype in IT magazines and online forums. Many ardently claim that this feature compromises privacy and endangers safety, while also presenting opportunities for stalking and other malicious activities. Also, friends can check into a certain location and broadcast who they are with, thus sacrificing the privacy of others. In contrast, other blogs state that while some may view it as privacy infringement, Facebook allows one to alter his or her privacy settings so that Places does not apply to them. It is a service for only those who wish to use it and Facebook works perfectly fine without it.

It is critical to explore this feature and make an informed decision before using it. To its credit, Facebook has implemented certain in built privacy settings for those who choose to avoid Places. First, this is an opt-in instead of an opt-out option. This means that Facebook users must manually choose to enable it; it is not a default setting. Secondly, even if friends have tagged you while "checking in," you can choose to reject the tag. This allows your friends to remain checked in and you to remain incognito simultaneously. The simplest way to disable this feature altogether is to uncheck a box in the privacy settings, under "Applications and Websites." This way, users don't have to worry about instantly untagging themselves.

Although Facebook Places does provide added entertainment and some convenience, it is a feature that must be used with complete awareness and prudence. As with all social networking websites, it is extremely important to steer clear of unsafe online behavior.

NPR recently featured Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls. Simmons' book explores the relationship between teenage girls and social media, including online networking and cell phone usage. Although I have not personally read the book yet, I listened to her interview on All Things Considered.Simmons discussed why cyberbullying is becoming rampant and how teenagers, specifically girls, are affected by it.

Simmons mentions that one of the biggest threats posed by cyberbullying is that it follows your daughter home, exists in school, and is a constant part of her social life. She cannot just come home and shut the door on it; it resides within her cell phone and her computer. According to Simmons, teenage girls often lack the communication skills necessary for conflict resolution; it is much easier for them to text their anger.

Some tips Simmons offers for parents include not letting your teens sleep with cell phones next to their beds or under their pillows. Additionally, set an example by not constantly using your cell phone and engaging in other activities with your daughter. Teens frequently learn from example, with parents being their greatest influence.

NPR offers further coverage of the interview here, including more tips and precautions for your teenager. Social media makes it easier to make and keep friends, but it also comes with drawbacks. Encourage your teen to protect her privacy online and to be aware of the dangers of social networking.

Many 21^st century parents choose to protect their children from social networking perils by creating their own accounts and monitoring their child's usage. Due to this, many moms and dads have Facebook and MySpace accounts and remain updated regarding new safety features and settings. It enables them to experience this revolutionary technology firsthand while also ensuring their child's safety. If you are one such mom or dad, you may have heard a buzz about Google+. Although some mystery still surrounds this new social networking website, it is ultimately another creative competitor for Facebook. Google+, however, is gaining popularity at an exponential pace and is likely to become the social phenomenon for your teen.

Most social networkers are familiar with the format of Facebook and MySpace, but Google+ has a brand new look with entirely new features. Since its member base is increasing day by day, it is necessary for parents to familiarize themselves with the interface. The most distinguishing thing about Google+ is its registration process. Currently users cannot open an account unless they have been invited. This invitation must come from a registered member and a new account can only be created upon acceptance. This is beneficial in that your teen will probably only get invites from one of her friends, not from strangers who wish to add her online.

The layout of Google+ is centered on five main features: circles, hangouts, instant upload, sparks and huddle. Circles is essentially a creative way to set up privacy settings, the user can choose to place different people in different circles and share specific information with each. If the user wants to share Christmas photographs with Grandma and party pictures with friends, he or she can do so conveniently. Hangouts let specific people, or entire circles, know that you are "hanging out" and are free to chat-face to face or through messaging. Instant upload allows pictures and videos to be shared directly from your phone to avoid the traditionally lengthy process of uploading. Sparks is, in my opinion, the most innovative feature of all. Once a user tells sparks what he or she is interested in, whether it be fashion or sports or music, the feature provides them with articles or videos that pertain to their hobbies. The last feature offered, Huddle, is particularly applicable to social butterflies. This feature enables you to enter group chat via Google+ on your phone, making it significantly easier to make plans with a large group.

If you wish to learn more about Google+ and its features, the interactive tutorial offered by Google is highly informative. It's critical to keep up with technology, especially those that your teens are using. As Google+ becomes the next big thing, keep your teen safe and informed about its use.

Most American parents display an average amount of knowledge regarding social networking, especially when it comes to what is actually available for their children. Facebook and MySpace have become household terms making it easier to overlook other forms of social networking that are tailored toward a younger demographic. Facebook, the largest social networking website, does not allow accounts for children under the age of 13. However, today's tech savvy preteens know technological loopholes like they know Hannah Montana. They can conveniently alter birthdays and age information to register for Facebook and thwart the safety features provided.

Explaining the perils of social networking to a preteen can be arduous and often unfruitful. It can also be useless to forbid preteens from social networking while all of their friends utilize Facebook via mobile phones or personal computers. Fortunately, there is a happy medium. Instead of using mainstream websites which generally cater to 13 plus audiences, NPR has compiled a list of Top Ten Social Networking Sites for Kids.

These websites offer top notch safety features to satisfy parents but they also successfully incorporate the varied interests of tweens. Some of these websites offer games and "hangout" opportunities, while others serve as forums for upcoming fashionistas and music gurus. There are several available websites such as GirlSense and Sweetyhigh that are restricted to all-girl membership. Others, such as WhatsWhat.me offer social networking for children over the age of seven.

The truly impressive aspect of these websites lies in the innovative safety features offered. Yoursphere, for example, subjects parents to background checks before their children can create an account. In addition, it vets its members against a registered sex offender database to further ensure safety. Imbee offers excellent opportunities for parents to remain involved while their children learn to network online.

There is no foolproof way for parents to ensure cyber safety; however, educating youth about their cyber footprints and the need for caution is a critical first step. As we become further engrossed in this age of iPhones and Facebook, both parents and tweens can find solace in remaining informed.

In the following Today Show segment, Donna Rice Hughes, President of Enough is Enough, and Michelle Borba, Educational Psychologist, discuss Internet safety with Matt Lauer. The question posed is, "Should parents snoop on their children with spyware or use an open monitoring/filtering solution?" Parents have mixed reactions to the use of spyware with some believing that it is a necessary tool to help keep their child safe online, while others believe it's a violation of privacy and there are other alternatives to keep tabs on their child such as "friending" them on social networking sites. There isn't a wrong answer - it really comes down to parenting style and family norms as to what protective measure parents put in place. The most important point is for parents to put measures in place - it takes, as Donna says during the segment, "rules and tools." Parents need to set the rules regarding expectations of online behavior, including consequences of violating those rules, and use tools to help monitor their child's online activities.

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The internet has been at your fingertips everywhere you go with your cell phone for a while. However, it is no longer just the techno-guy in your life, it is seemingly everyone. For example, the iPhone came out with the next version in early July, people stood in line for hours to make sure they got the latest and greatest. Not that the old iPhone was going to stop working, but people wanted the newest version. People I know, who have never been particularly techno-savvy were talking about how excited they were to get the new gadget. Anne Collier at NetFamilyNews.org hit the nail on the head - people are not carrying cell phones anymore, they are carrying full blown computers that are connected to the internet. She highlights a few statistics from Pew research:

One of the popular tools hitting social networks lately are location applications such as FourSquare. When you register with one of these applications, it will update the social networks of your choosing with locations as you arrive at them.

I don't want to get into all the details about how to sign up and how it works. You can go to the site for those details. Instead, I wanted to share this with you in the interest of sharing knowledge of new uses for existing technology. I don't know how many teens are using this kind of technology, I only learned about it through a few of my friends (all adults).

The basics premise is that you use your cell phone to announce where you are at any given time to your friends on social networks. Here is an example of FourSquare in action when one of my friends went to a local restaurant. (His name and pictures covered for privacy).

Since my friend registered with FourSquare, he has "checked in" 103 times. This means that he posted that he was at a specific location on Facebook and Twitter 103 times.

The badges represent various things including how frequently you go to a specific location and if you have any friends that recently checked in at the same location.



Once you "check in", it shows up on the social networks that you specify. Here is what the check in looks like on Facebook.



And here is what it looks like on Twitter



While there are some benefits to using applications like FourSquare, you want to be careful how you use it. I think it is obvious that you wouldn't want to post your home address. What may not be obvious is that there is some level of risk that if you post your location and often visit the same locations at the same times.

The purpose of this article is to simply show you how existing technology is being used in new ways. It is up to you to decide if and how to use it for yourself and your family. What are some of the benefits you see in using FourSquare? What are some of the risks you see?

Recently Facebook has been under fire for a variety of reasons relating to privacy. For the record, I still have my Facebook profile. I do, however, treat Facebook like I do my personal blog, like I do any other place online where I can share a piece of myself. Anything I want to be kept private, I simply don't put online. I have posted tips on keeping yourself and your family safe while online, but I think CommonSenseMedia summed it up quite nicely:

3 Simple Rules to Keep in Mind

1. Stick with your friends. Have your teens limit their privacy settings to Only Friends. That'll restrict who sees your kids' information, including pictures, videos, and applications they use.
2. Keep private information private. When filling out their bios, teens can leave fields blank. There is no need for your teens to post their phone numbers or addresses. These features are optional and aren't required to create a Facebook account.
3. Don't let your information get away from you. If your teens haven't restricted who can share their information, their personal data can end up in the hands of marketers. Also, advise your teens to be on the lookout for personal information requests -- like their birthday or music playlist -- from third parties. And make sure your teens uncheck the public search results box so people can't find their Facebook page through a Google search.

What are some simple tips you have to keep yourself and family safe while online?

My name is Francis Duncan. I have been guilty of using company time, the company computer and even company e-mail to send personal e-mail. That last one to my father about his up-coming trip could have waited until after hours, but I sent it during office hours.

According to this MSNBC article, I am not the only person to use company resources for personal reasons. This one more personal than my example: "Jeff Quon, a California SWAT sergeant, was given a pager from his employer, the Ontario Police Department. He was later found to have used the device not only for work but also for pleasure, often sending sexually explicit text messages to his wife and his mistress."

Quon's employer found out by reading the texts, siting that the pager was "owned by the department". Quon felt that it was a violation of his privacy. The courts were brought into the mix and it is now going to be escalated to the Supreme Court to determine if the department had the right to read the texts.

The Supreme Court heard the case last Monday and a decision is expected by the end of June.

Regardless of how it turns out, this will effect most workplaces. What do you think the outcome should be? Should the messages be kept private? Or did the department have the right to read them?

I have a cousin who lives in Alaska. I have known her mother, but various circumstances have prevented my cousin and I from meeting in person. Especially in the last couple of years, I have talked to my cousin over the phone and through letters several times. When she found out I was on Facebook, she immediately sent me a friend request. Since then, we share pictures of our expanding families and keep in touch pretty regularly.

Apparently this is not uncommon. According to this article from the U.K., one in five families keep in touch via social networking sites.

Many decades ago, families didn't stray go far from home as they grew. Now, a very large percentage of people I know have moved far from their hometown. As people are more and more mobile, the Internet is being used to keep families together. It may not be as good as the family dinners, but it is better than nothing.

Do you keep in touch with family online more than you do in real life?

An increasingly common marketing strategy for anyone looking to get the word out about something is to use social networking sites. At the moment, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are the most common vehicles for spreading messages about everything from what your favorite celebrity is eating for lunch to getting a discount on something at a retail store. Even small businesses are using this free form of marketing.

This year, a Girl Scout used You Tube to promote her cookie sale. The video started with her stating her full name, then saying that she wanted to sell 12,000 cookies and why she wanted to sell that many. On one hand, it is an innovative way to sell more cookies. On the other hand, a young girl is saying her full name in a video, doing what some could argue as potentially risky online behavior.

The Girl Scout and her father went on the Today Show with a representative of the Girl Scout organization. Watch this segment of the Today Show and let us know where you stand. Do you think Girl Scouts should be able to market themselves online in any (tasteful) way to sell the cookies? Or should they be barred from online promotion or sales for the sake of safety?

After watching MTV's "When Privates Go Public", I was reminded of my own high school career. I didn't have the technology that is currently available, but I saw myself in the students that were featured. The girl was naive and thought her boyfriend would never betray her trust. I was reminded how my trust was betrayed by my first love. The second student was frustrated and did something without thinking. I was reminded that I am really glad that there isn't documentation of things I did without thinking when I was a teen. As I listened to their stories, I was touched not by their story as much as how easy it is happening to youth who you would never expect.

The two stories featured were a young girl who sent a topless picture of herself and a boy who forwarded a picture of his girlfriend from his cell phone. She ended up having her picture sent to everyone in not only her school, but other schools as well. He was convicted as a sex offender and is facing those consequences (including not being able to get a job or even live with his father because of the proximity to a school). Neither person was anyone I would think would even think of doing anything like this. Both described that 'they didn't think' anything bad would happen and certainly would never have done it had they thought about consequences. I could see myself in both of these young people.

The entire episode is available online. I re-encourage you to watch it with young people in your life. It is an important topic that might lead to helping them think about consequences.

Once you watch it, post your thoughts about the documentary in the comments. Do you see yourself, or your kids, in those featured?

The PBS's series "Frontline" recently aired an episode called "Digital Nation". It talked about how much the current generation has transformed the world through technology. It was done by the same people who did Growing Up Online, so I was intrigued.

The program started by talking about how effective (or not) people are at multi-tasking. I was in full agreement. I kept thinking how crazy the people were who said "they can read email, pay attention to a lecture, and search the web at the same time." Then I had to laugh at myself. I was watching this documentary with my laptop open checking mail and starting to write this post.

After I put my laptop away and started paying closer attention to the message, I was really impressed with the information.

They said that there are two categories of people in the digital arena, digital natives and digital immigrants. Among the natives, there was a deep look at the possibility of Internet addiction and the observation that multi-tasking is rampant and unproductive, the social aspect (looking mainly into massively multi-player online role playing games such as World of Warcraft), and how this technology has transformed warfare.

Regarding which camp I fall into - I think I fall squarely into the immigrant category. I have worked very hard to learn about different kids of technology, but it is not easy for me. I often end up asking people (generally young people) who are natives for help. Do you think you fit into the digital native category, or the immigrant? If you are a native, do you share your knowledge? If you are an immigrant, do you seek to learn more? How?

It is playing on PBS periodically, so I'd recommend watching it. Check your local listings for when it will be on in your area.