Just zeros and ones

I once volunteered at a youth center for troubled youth. Most of the kids who came in were either struggling with an abusive parent, peer pressure or on drugs. Most of the volunteers were college students because the kids seemed to open up and talk to them more than they did to the grown ups.

Last year, they introduced the Buddy Program to this center. The Buddy Program is an online community where these kids could meet and discuss whatever issues they were dealing with. What they did not know is that the grown ups they would not open up to face to face are the same people they opened up to online.

The switch from face to face communication to online seemed to change everything. The kids opened up even more than they did with us, the volunteers. This seems to be the case for more than just troubled youth. Many people have no problem putting up all kinds of information online about themselves. Social networking sites like Facebook, twitter, Meebo and Myspace all have profiles. This is where you put up information about yourself , your names, where you work, where you went to school, your likes and dislikes, all so that other people can see. This information is supposedly put up there so that old and new friends may be able to find you. We

But can you imagine how many other people can find you? Stalkers? serial killers? It's a crazy and unpredictable world out there. How safe is it to have all this information out there in the open? You never know who has malicious intentions. It might feel like it's all just zero's and one's being transmitted, no strings attached. But all in all, I think it's safe to always be cautious about what you put online about yourself. You just never know.