Comments on: Xanga Gets Popped: Who’s Next?

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:07:00 +0000

I just had an idea on how to fix this whole underage problem. Kent, you were on to it when you were talking about underage people buying beer in the 70s. We should sell membership cards at places that sell cigarettes and liquor. They are used to carding. Then to buy the membership card to myspace, xanga, etc, etc you have to show your ID. The membership card will have a lottery scratch type area with a secret code that needs to be entered when you sign up to the site. Charge a couple of bucks for the card, most of which would go straight to the retailer as a way for paying them for being your security police.If it is good enough security for smokes and drinks, it should be good enough for talking online.

By: Catch Up Lady

Catch Up Lady — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 14:09:00 +0000

I agree that this is a warning shot for other social networking sites. There have been some cursory measures on MySpace but nothing that can really stop someone from lying about their age. I like that with Xanga you have to confirm your age in a secondary way with a parent approval, etc. Like you said this seems like more of a fluke. I think that these sites need to follow MySpace’s lead and join with groups like the Cybertipline for PSAs, etc and while they should not be held accountable for people’s actions they should act in their users best interests in terms of educating them about online safety. It will be interesting to watch this issue evolve – Facebook got into their own mess this week on users privacy issues.

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 01:53:00 +0000

On the other hand, Kent, given that it’s so damned easy to do, it’s particularly egregious that it was left out (probably forgotten).