Myspace, Seventeen Magazine Launch Internet Safety Push

MYSPACE News Release

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MySpace launches Internet safety campaign with parents' and school administrators' Internet safety guides

Largest lifestyle portal partners with Seventeen Magazine, National School Board Association and the National Association of Independent Schools in ongoing Internet safety educational campaign

Campaign kicks off National Cyber Security Awareness Month

LOS ANGELES - MySpace.com, the leading social networking and lifestyle portal for connecting with friends and discovering culture, announced today the launch of an Internet safety campaign with the publication and distribution of parents’ and school administrators' guides to Internet safety.

The launch, a strategic partnership with Seventeen Magazine, the National School Board Association and the National Association of Independent Schools, supports the third annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month in October, a nationwide effort to educate Internet users about safe online practices.

"We're committed to doing everything we can to improve internet safety," said Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer of MySpace. "While technology plays a critical role in tackling the challenges of Internet safety, any measures must be part of a comprehensive solution, and education is an essential component."

Nigam continued: "We're pleased to enlist experts such as Seventeen magazine, the National School Board Association and the National Association of Independent Schools to continue a productive dialogue on safe Web practices."

Through the partnership with Seventeen magazine, MySpace will target parents, teens and teachers and offer tips, suggestions and information on safe Internet behavior.

Seventeen’s editor-in-chief, Atoosa Rubenstein, will help MySpace communicate this information to teens and parents through her highly-trafficked profile.

"The Internet and social networking are part of the fabric of this generation's daily life," said Seventeen's Rubenstein. "Parents and teachers already keep an eye on a teen's friends at school or night time plans, but they need to keep the same tabs on their digital lives. We all need to do our part to keep teens safe."

The Parents' Guide to Internet Safety will help define MySpace for parents and answer questions about social networks and the Internet in general.

Guide topics will include how members use MySpace, information on company safety practices and Seventeen’s Web safety tips for teens.

The Parents' Guide is available for download from MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/safetytips in the "Tips for Parents" section.

The School Administrators' Guide to Internet Safety is being distributed in October in conjunction with the National School Board Association (NSBA) in celebration of National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

This guide explains how MySpace works and addresses the various challenges that students and educators may face in relation to the website.

MySpace will work with the NSBA to send out the guide to approximately 55,000 public school administrators representing grades 7 through 12.

Additionally, MySpace is also working with the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) to disseminate the guide to independent schools.

The parents' and school administrators' Internet safety guides will join MySpace's best practices including safety-enabling technology such as heightened security settings for younger users and full privacy options for all members.

Additionally, MySpace relies on its industry partnerships with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Common Sense Media to convey the message of online safety through a series of public service announcements and educational programming.

Seventeen Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Atoosa Rubenstein, includes the following teen safety tips in the Parents’ Guide to Internet Safety:

1. Be Careful

Unless your profile is set to private, anyone can check it out. You should never post personal information such as your phone number, address, school, or where you regularly hang out. If you wouldn't share it with a creepy stranger on the street, don't post it on MySpace. Remember that the Internet is a public place and you should think about what you share.

2. Be Skeptical

We may have an idea of who someone is or why they're messaging us, but the truth is, when we're online we should be a little more skeptical. As you're connecting with people, get to know them first before adding them to your friends list. Only add the people that you want to see your profile, check out your friends and view your photos.

3. Be Picky

We all want to share funny things we've done with friends, but once you post something online it can live in cyberspace forever. Before you post an image or comment, take a minute to consider if it's something that might haunt you in a few years - imagine a potential boss or college recruiter is doing a search on you. Don't blow your opportunities for tomorrow just to be cute or outrageous today.

4. Be a Good Online Citizen

MySpace is a place where everyone should feel welcome. If you see hate speech or inappropriate content, or if you're being harassed by another user, talk to your parents and report it to MySpace immediately. Think of this as a great, new neighborhood we all want to keep safe.

5. Be Real

MySpace is a community and you get out of it what you put in. Use common sense and think about what behavior is ok and what's not cool for the community. The more respectful you are to others, the better the site is for everyone. If you disrespect the community by posting fake profiles or lying about your age, you'll be removed - no exceptions.

About MySpace.com

MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world.

By integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities and member forums, MySpace has created a connected community.

As the second-ranked web domain in terms of page views(a), MySpace.com is the most widely-used and highly regarded site of its kind and is committed to providing the highest quality member experience and will continue to innovate with new features that allow its members to express their creativity and share their lives, both online and off.

(a) Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, August 2006.

For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com

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