Myspace a popular social networking site with more than eighty million users, virtually allows anyone to create an account, even predators. In the article, "Myspace Not Responsible for Predators" by Kevin Alexander, a naive fourteen year old girl is allegedly reported raped by a nineteen year old man, whom she met online. Since Myspace does not verify its users age, the man was able to lie to the young girl by manipulating her to believe he was younger. Soon after befriending each other, the young girl decided to met up with the nineteen year old outside of cyberspace. The young girl failed to see the danger of meeting a person who they met online and innocently planned to see him and go to dinner and a movie. After the incident occurred the young girls family attempted to sue the social networking site for thirty million dollars, due to the lack of Myspace's security features. However, upon joining the social networking site, a member must sign a waiver stating that Myspace is not responsible for the actions of another user online or offline.
While Kevin Alexander claims that Myspace is not responsible for predators and that users should use the social networking site at their own risk. He fails to consider the important point that there are minors online who are not aware of the dangers of cyberspace. Therefore, a more accurate conclusion is that minors must have consent from their parents before joining because they are responsible for their actions when online and they should be skeptical when adding people they do not know. "Myspace is a business, and one that has never advertised itself as an online babysitting service."(Alexander para 2) I personally agree that Myspace is not responsible for predators online. Parents should be more active when monitoring their child's internet use and informing them of the many dangers that may occur.
Alexander, Kevin."Myspace Not Responsible for Predators." New York: Morrow, 1985. Rpt. in Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. Annette T. Rottenberg and Donna Haisty Winchell. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2009. 119-121.
Great work here Cory. When quoting a source of this sort, include the page number rather than paragraph. Only do paragraph numbers when no page numbers are available. Ex: "Myspace is a business, and one that has never advertised itself as an online babysitting service"(Alexander 119).
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