There's been much hoo-ha (that being the technical term for it) in the old, broadcast media of late about the 'secret lives of teens online,' such as this report from a TV station in Portland, Oregon. And, has anyone watched the reports on Dateline recently? It's as if there's a producer there with a vendetta against the Internet.
And today, via Howard Rheingold, some reason has been re I learned of a newly released research from Professor Larry Rosen at UC-Dominguez Hills. Rosen finds that "only 7% of teens interviewed had ever been approached by anyone with a sexual intent and nearly all of them simply ignored the person or blocked the page." The research isn't based on a random sample (but rather a convenience sample), so it's not generalizable to all teens, or even all teens online. It's interesting, nonetheless, as a counter to the hyperbole and moral panic surrounding sexual predators online.
You can download a press release about Rosen's research here (downloads as a PDF file).
2 comments:
I'm glad to see research about MySpace starting to hit press. I think it will help to calm the fears of many parents. Even though this was a convenient sample, it is a good place to start.
I think the Dateline series is entrapment. It is also focusing solely on one population that I believe represents a minority of Internet users. I would like to see them run a piece covering the positives of these online communities. How about focusing on adolescents that are unpopular or bullied at school that find friends through MySpace? There are always (at least) two sides to every story.
kate
Before on-line blocking, one just needed to be listed as a female on AOL IM and in a matter of minutes...'you want to know what I'm doing?'...would hit the screen.
I would argue that the internet started with 75% of the intent being sex. Playboy was and still is one of the most frequented sites. Try and search for a Snow White halloween costume for your child and see what pops up. Good lord.
Get a better sample and see what's REALLY going on.
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