Given concerns recently about the safety of social networking sites, we have produced this guide to help you out!

  - keep your security settings at their highest (these can be set in the 'account' or 'privacy' sections. That way you limit what people can see.

  See the links below for the privacy information from various networking sites:

Facebook
MySpace
Bebo

  - accept friend requests only from people you know and can trust.

  - if you do accept friend requests from newer acquaintances, make sure you don't have any contact details (address, phone number, work address etc) visible on your profile (again see security)

  - don't give away details such as your address, where you're going to be etc on your status update or on people's walls (remember what you can see about others in your news feed or similar, others can see about you!).

  - Also be aware when you post photos or videos. Make sure you have your privacy settings set so that only people you want to view your content can. Better still, if you wouldn’t want just anyone to see the photos and videos you post, then don’t post them!

  - Be careful not to include photos which have identifying features in them such as a picture of your house, address or phone number etc - anything that would help an online ‘predator’ find you.

  - All of these sites should have ways of reporting abuse. If you are worried or threatened by  any contact you’ve received or anyone’s behaviour on these sites, always report it.

  Here are some links to abuse reporting sections:

Facebook
MySpace
Bebo

  We particularly recommend viewing the Bebo safety section as much of the information on it applies to many social networking sites - see it here.

  As long as you are careful what you reveal and who to, social networking sites are brilliant fun. Enjoy staying in touch with friends and family and using fun applications. Just be safe while you’re doing it!