Have you heard about Formspring.me? I heard about it on a recent visit to some more, shall we say...um...adult blogs? Yup, I look at em! What can I say? I'm a mom, I'm not dead, and it's just sex. ♪Let's talk about sex, baby, let's talk about you and me♪ (Salt & Pepa)
Anyway, so, I heard about formspring.me and thought I'd check it out. ♪Check it out♪ (Fergie- Fergalicious)
It's basically a site that allows you to set up an account and people can anonymously ask you questions. The questions go to your inbox, and you decide which ones you want to answer. Perfectly harmless, right?!
Well, harmless, until you realize that this is the latest way for teens to chat, and unlike Facebook & Myspace, there are no privacy guards in place. So, any questions that they answer, and any of their pictures and info can be seen by anyone on the internet.
It's kind of like a slam book back in the day. Remember those?! They were pieces of paper stapled together with questions on each page, and you passed it around to all your friends? And, if I remember correctly, some of the questions could get pretty racy, but, at least, you controlled who got to see it!
When I realized that my girls had been going to their friends' formsprings, (thanks to browsing history,) and, that I could see all the things these teens were talking about, I knew I had to talk to them about it.
They told me that they didn't have a page, but many of their friends do. I think it was said like this: "everybody has them, duh!" Well, silly me I should've known! Duh, mom!
I didn't tell them they couldn't have one, but I did tell them to be careful what types of things they are posting, because, unfortunately, it's just the kind of place that predators could be lurking. The best protection against predators is talking to your kids, and letting them know that it's okay to have fun and connect with people, but they must always be on guard.
So, go talk to your teen, or, heck, send them a note on formspring, because apparently, everyone is using it!
Oh Wow! Thanks for the info! A parent could go crazy trying to keep up with all the crap that kids could get into! I finally resorted to using a monitoring service on my kids' computer. Even with that, I feel like I'm lacking info.
ReplyDeleteWow I am on the up and up most of the time but never have heard about formspring!? Thanks for the info!
ReplyDeleteMost of my friends use FormSpring. I have one, but hardly ever update it or answer questions. After one day, I realized that it was a pathetic excuse for fun... it's not fun. I find it ridiculous. I'm actually going to delete my account right now. Thanks for posting and good luck with your girls.
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ReplyDeleteHow is it possible for a parent to stay on top of all that's here on the net you don't want your children having access too. I never heard of this before, but thanks so much for the heads up on this, but it's like putting another finger in the damn. Whoever said, "It take a village to raise a child" was right - is what I wanted to say. Excuse my deleted goof!
ReplyDeletehttp://hauplight.blogspot.com/
A new one for me too - thanks for the warning.
ReplyDeleteI agree that talking with our kids is the best way to protect them and teach them to protect themselves.
I had heard of it, but had no idea that was the latest thing! Will definitely keep my eyes open about that one with my son. Oh I so remember the Slam Books from when I was a kid!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm giving you the Versatile Blogger award! Stop by http://lifesolovely.com/2010/05/versatile-blogger/ to pick it up :)
I hadn't even heard of this. Sounds like it could be a pretty "insightful" place. And maybe not in a good way. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a formspring. I don't see much sex stuff on it but i'm an adults and following adults. It's probably only the teens that get into that kind of thing. Teens do need to be more careful about where they post there information.
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