My Space

I am thrilled to see our kids using My Space instead of AOL.  I have never been a fan of AOL.  The spam, the continuous pestering when you want to sign off – are you sure that you want to sign off, one more chance, really want to sign off…YES!  AOL is just a large portal/ISP for the masses that haven’t figured out that they could do better elsewhere.  AOL, through AIM (instant messenger) became the kings of the teenage market.  No longer.  My Space is moving on in.

It is interesting what the kids use it for.  They create their own webpage basically and gather friends.  Each morning we get an update on how many friends they have.  It’s pretty hilarious.  But the other night, disaster struck.

Emily couldn’t get on and someone had deleted her entire page.  Could it be a hacker?  Why would anybody get off on deleting a kid site?  Well, My Space does.  They randomly go through daily to find people who are under 14 years old using the site and delete their stuff.  There are legal ramifications for them having kids under 14 using My Space. 

Emily was beyond upset.  Ok, so she is 12 not 14.  Does anyone know of a place where you can download your site somewhere else in case they find themselves deleted?  Em spent hours rebuilding.  Would have been great if she would have been able to grab her info and just put it back on in a matter of seconds.  She had 140 friends, now she is in the process of rebuilding.  Ugh, what a night! 

I’m not sure I agree with the 14 and older rule.  You’d think that the kids using My Space are enjoying the property or they wouldn’t be there.  Let them.  This generation is all about the web.  Let them roam free and see what they come up with in 10 years.  All good..no?