Teens learning to protect online identities

According to a report from The Pew Internet & American Life Project, teenagers are learning to protect their online identities.

For the last few years, there has been growing concern about teens giving away too much personal information online – something which not only could impact their future careers, but impact their personal security & safety.

The report indicates that teenagers (age 12-17) don’t often think twice about sharing their first name & photo in their blog and on social networking sites, but they do refrain from sharing their last name or full public profile. One third of teens offer up their last name and the same number offer up their email address. 45% of online teens have no profile at all.

As social networking sites grow more popular, they are also becoming more secure. More controls are in place to password-protect your profile or to make it "friends only".

"Teens are manifesting the tension between wanting to keep themselves safe online and wanting to share themselves with their friends and potentially make new ones," said Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist at Pew." Teens, particularly girls and younger teens, have gotten the message about protecting themselves on social networks, but the fun of these networks is the ability to share yourself with others on them."

There is cause for concern. 21% of teens have been contacted by people they don’t know, and only 23% of them felt concern. Most concern centers around personal threat but, as more personal information is shared over time, these teens could put themselves at risk for future identity theft. The report is a positive indication that teenagers are aware of the dangers posed online.

Via educational technology & CNN ; Tags: teenagers online, teens online, teen security, online security, social networking