Twitter or Facebook safe for teens?!?!?!?

[Ms.JBieber<3]

I just want to know if having a twitter or facebook is safe for a young teen. I have had an AIM for about 2yrs. and absolutely NO ONE is EVR on anymore. They all moved on2 Myspace & now they eithr all have a Facebook or Twitter. I never really call my friends; im more of a texting or instant messaging person and since no1s ever on AIM anymore i want something new. I've been on the Twitter page b4 and it seems harmless enough. I just see people putting up statuses, but I heard that ppl can stalk you? Ive never been on facebook but it seems exactly like having AIM. Is it more dangerous? I'm still trying to convince my mom to le me have one and I need a good argument to support what i want. Please tell me what you think. No hate comments! Thank-youu!(:

[tom ridle]

Both are 2 different things, one is a social network while other is a micro blogging site.

facebooks is concentrated on making friends, talking to them and playing stuff with them.

twitter is about writing a 160 character message about anything, or simply write what you are doing. ( sound boring but believe me its gr8)

both are safe.
as long as you yourself dont go around looking for trouble.

[kade]

facebook is definately a lot more safe, and a lot more fun. on facebook if someone requests you to be their friend, you can choose if you are friends with them. but on twitter, if someone requests you to be a "follower" then you dont get to choose. you just automaticly be friends with them which means that anyone can see what your writing and also many porn sites do twitter and will add you. so i would choose facebook over twitter. much more safer and fun

[Susan]

Facebook and Myspace apps and games are loaded with malware!
Twitter is ok (~_~)

[James]

Social Networking sites are a powerful tool, and as with almost every powerful tool, it can be used for evil! You are safe if you abide by this philosophy.... DON'T POST PRIVATE THINGS ONLINE. young teens have a habit of posting inappropriate things to these sites and they get into danger. If you talk to the young teen and let them understand that everything they put online is public, and if they wouldn't tell it to a stranger at the grocery store, then they should not post it to a public website. Some of these sites also offer a form of privacy, making it so that only friends can see your info, this is a false sense of privacy, as when one of your friends installs an application, they provide the application with the right to view all of their friend's info (YOU!). So, if you were to tell your teen to make it so that you were able to see what they post, and you DO check it, you can monitor it and teach your teen to safely use these great resources!

[hero no .1]

Yes i agree with you , facebook is rather safe . Infact its good . I am myself a teen and find many of my friends on Orkut or FaceBook . OR i use Google Chat to chat wid them .


Good Luck

[lantere]

They are as safe as the street in front of your house.

Meaning:
It is how you act that will determine if it is safe or not.

Facebook is great for social interactions.
Twitter is more for "need to know/tell".
(I need to know what someone else is doing every minute) or (I need to tell everyone what I am doing every minute.)

A few points to remember: (If you do get one/both)

Just because someone follows you on Twitter, it does not mean you have to follow them back.
Likewise, if someone sends you a Friend Request on Facebook, you don't have to accept.
You are under no obligation to fill out every field.
Just supply enough information for the Registration to succeed.
(You can always add to it later.)
After you create an account, go to Settings (or Account, or Options) and set your Privacy.

If someone harass you on either these sites, report them.
Don't ever post anything that might be used against you.


Let your mom sit with you, while creating an account.
Maybe she will be more open to the idea.
(Or have your mom create her own account, and then you can Friend/Follow each other.)