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Introduction
TeenSpot is one of the most popular websites for
teenagers on the Internet. TeenSpot provides a
number of community and social features such as chat
rooms and message boards. To ensure the safety of
all TeenSpot visitors and to put parents' minds at
ease, we have created this document to talk a little
about what TeenSpot is doing to keep its members
safe and how you can protect yourself (or your
child) from online predators.
What TeenSpot does to protect the safety of its
members
Safety of our members is very important to us at TeenSpot. You will
learn by reading the following that TeenSpot does a
lot behind the scenes. These are a few of the
methods we use to help ensure the safety of TeenSpot
members:
Moderator - Our automated robot. Moderator is
a program we created specifically to help us
moderate TeenSpot.com chat rooms. Moderator includes
a vast amount of features including chat room
protection from flooding, repeating, advertising,
long text, swearing, join flooding, and nickname
flooding, to name a few. Moderator also acts as the
gateway to a few of our other moderation features.
Administrators & Operators - There are a good
handful of chat officials who often
visit each chat room making sure there are no
problems and no trouble makers.
Filtering - We have a list of specific words
that are commonly used amongst predators. When one
of these marked words is flagged, the user is
reported to a private chat room where administrators
are continuously monitoring.
Ignore Feature - All aspects of our community have a feature enabling users to block communications from users they deem annoying or abusive. This can be activated by visiting a users profile and clicking on the "Ignore User" link or in the chat rooms typing /ignore username. The ignore list can be managed from the Profile Editor.
911 Help Room - Every chat room user of
TeenSpot has the option of private messaging the
Moderator robot and asking for help. When a user
private messages Moderator, they are prompted with a
way to contact our emergency help room where real
people wait for help requests. The 911 help room is
a great place to ask for help, report troublemakers,
or anything else.
Site Help Forum - On the TeenSpot.com message
boards there is a forum called "Site Help" which is
moderated by about twenty staff members throughout
the day. Threads created in the "Site Help" forum
are guaranteed to receive replies and answers.
Report Inappropriate Content Links - We take inappropriate content very seriously. Links to report such content appear twice on the top and bottom of every profile and picture page, allowing users to report inappropriate content to staff members for removal.
Feedback Email Form - Underneath the chat
room and on the bottom of all TeenSpot pages, there
is a link to our feedback email form. This form
allows anyone (TeenSpot member or not) to get in
touch with us.
Hide Personal Information - You may have noticed that your TeenSpot Profile does not have fields to display your real name, location or school. Additionally, the member search feature does not include an option to search by zipcode or city. We strongly discourage you from sharing personally identifiable information online.
What you can do to stay safe online
Be careful who you trust online and remember that online friends are
really strangers. People online, no matter how long
you have been talking to them or how friendly they
are, may not be who they say they are.
Meeting someone you have only been in touch with
online can be dangerous. If you feel that you "have
to" meet, then for your own safety you must tell
your parent or carer and take them with you -- at
least on the first visit -- and meet in a public
place in daytime.
Stay in charge in chat. Keep your personal
information secret when chatting online (name,
address, telephone number, mobile number, private
email address, picture), even if people ask for
this. Although it can be tempting to reveal more
than you normally would in online friendships,
giving out personal information can make you
vulnerable.
Check your profile and make sure it doesn't
include any personal information (name, address,
telephone number, mobile number, private email
address, picture).
Get away from an unpleasant situation in a chat
room by logging out (this just takes one click) or
by changing your screen name.
Think before you answer private messages. It can
be harder to end a conversation in a private chat
than in a public chat. A private chat may end up
being more personal than you like.
Use a nickname, not your real name, and a
nickname that is not going to attract the wrong type
of attention.
Look out for your friends and do something if
you think that they are at risk.
Tell your parent or carer if someone or
something makes you feel uncomfortable or worried.
Learn how to block/ignore people. (On TeenSpot's
chat rooms, simply type "/silence" followed by a
space and then the person's nickname.)
Report suspicious and inappropriate activity to
TeenSpot. There is a link underneath the chat room
which allows you to do this.
Have Fun! Chat is a great way to meet and make
new friends from around the world. You will find
kids from all over that have the same interests and
concerns, and it's a good way to keep in touch with
your friends from school. Enjoy your time online,
and do it safe.
Think Before You Post
Stop and think about the consequences before you post your next photo, brought to you by Cybertipline.com.
Additional Resources
Check out the following websites for some great resources and tips for staying safe online:
OnGuardOnline.gov - Tips for Parents
OnGuardOnline.gov - Tips for Teens
Other good resources and tips for staying safe online:
Conclusion
Although we work very hard at making sure TeenSpot
is a safe place for teenagers, it is impossible for
TeenSpot (or any other website, or communication
medium for that matter) to ensure 100% safety. Hopefully this document
has put your mind at ease a little bit and helped
inform you on how to keep yourself safe.
TeenSpot encourages parents to get involved in their
kids online time, and take some real interest in
what they do and see online. Don't let the computer
and the Internet become a substitute for parental
guidance and participation.
Questions? Comments? Feedback?
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback
about this document, you may contact TeenSpot via
our
contact form.
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