In light of a recent incident where a girl met someone on Mxit and ran away from home, it raises some questions:

• Are such young people putting themselves at risk with personal info and details being shared on Facebook?
• What steps/advice can be taken/rendered to assist and protect young people who are on Facebook?

Understanding Mxit vs Facebook

Mxit is a popular cellphone application in South Africa. In a region and continent with high and excessive telecommunication costs, Mxit is a cheap alternative to SMS (Short Message Service). Whereas users pay a premium rate to send SMS’es, Mxit uses a form of instant messaging, where users only pay for the data cost of sending a message.

Being a cellphone-based social instant-messaging application, the only information really being made available is the cell phone number of the user, and possibly the name of the user if they dont use a pseudo-name.

Mxit (like Facebook) operates on a friend request-and-accept approach, but also offers a chatroom service, and it is seemingly here that ‘relationships’ (for want of a better word) fosters.

Given the ability to generate online friendship, being known for having a lot of online friends, and thus possibly popular, may be one reason why people allow such friendships and relationships to happen.

Enter Facebook

These young people are entering Facebook at a time where it has already reached spectacular growth, and some are even forsaking it for alternatives like Twitter. I’m unable to account for why they are switching to Facebook. Is it perhaps the next step after Mxit? Is it because Facebook offers more features than Mxit? Is it because of the popularity of Facebook and that adults are using it?

Oddly, Internet access is not an issue since many of them are accessing Facebook via there cell phones. Perhaps the fact that Facebook has a mobile version helps.

Facebook Features which could be considered dangerous from a Mxit perspective

• Facebook allows users to upload photos of themselves, providing a picture to the name
  • So unlike Mxit, there is a picture to the person you are corresponding with
• Facebook allows users to be tagged in photographs
  • Even if the user does not provide a photo of him/herself, others could do it for them
• Facebook allows users to enter a detailed profile, including contact details
  • Compared to Mxit, this is much more comprehensive
• Facebook provides a history of past activity
  • Mxit doesnt.
• Facebook’s add a Friend feature provides a risk where people blindly accept friendships.
  • The more friends you have, the better it supposedly seems, as it makes you appear more popular. Mxit doesnt have the search feature of Facebook where users can search for friends.

If parents become concerned and paranoid about Mxit, it’s not difficult to see why they could possibly be more apprehensive of the dangers Facebook potentially provides at a greater risk than Mxit.

Facebook’s negative could also be positive

I recall an incident a few months ago where an older sister stepped in when her younger sister started receiving inappropriate comments on some of her photos. This is an advantage of an open system, and makes it easier for an adult/guardian to supervise. Needless to say, the intervention was a rebuke to the offenders who desisted from their actions.

What are your thoughts on the matter?