The regulator's research found that 49% of 8 to 17 year-olds who
use the internet have a profile on a social networking site such as
MySpace, Facebook or Bebo. This is despite the fact that the major
sites say that users under 13 should not register pages.
Ofcom also found that despite many parents' worries about
inappropriate contacts through the sites and the publishing of
personal information, the users of social networking sites are not
very worried about privacy.
"Although the subject of much discussion in the media, in
Ofcom’s qualitative research privacy and safety issues on social
networking sites did not emerge as ‘top of mind’ for most users,"
said Ofcom's research. "In discussion, and after prompting, some
users in the qualitative study did think of some privacy and safety
issues, although on the whole they were unconcerned about
them."
It found that 41% of 8 to 17 year olds with profile pages left
their privacy settings to 'open', so that anyone could see
them.
Reports have emerged that the Government plans to announce a
code of conduct for social networking sites which would require
them to set privacy settings automatically to stricter levels for
users under 18 who sign up.
Last week child psychologist and television presenter Dr Tanya
Byron produced a comprehensive report on children and technology
which recommended exactly that measure.
"The incentive for signing up to one of these codes would be the
opportunity for companies to promote themselves as responsible
businesses with an interest in online child safety," said Byron in
her report. "It is likely that the main consequence of breaching
the codes would be public censure by the Council. Avoiding this
kind of reputational damage would be a strong incentive for
companies to co-operate."
Ofcom said that a large proportion of younger children have
profiles. "27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking
sites say that they have a profile on a site," said its report.
"While some of these younger users are on sites intended for
younger children, the presence of underage users on social
networking sites intended for those aged 13 or over was also
confirmed by qualitative research conducted by Ofcom."
