MySpace is an online social networking site that offers a variety of information and entertainment features. MySpace lets you meet new people, connect with old friends and stay in touch. But it also allows the whole world to find out about you through your profile. How can you stay safe?

Some facts: Did you know that over 70 million "kids" use MySpace? Over 26 million individuals per day hit this site. It's the largest magnet in the world for every kind of teen abuse you could imagine. This includes spyware, identity theft, spam, pornography, and most dangerous of all sexual predators.

A majority of teenagers are responsible when using MySpace, but a number of adolescents still share personal information that could put their safety at risk, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis of teenagers' MySpace profiles.

A study of 1,500 teen profiles resulted in the following statistics:

• Almost 57 percent of the profiles included at least one photo of the teen, often of themselves with family, friends or people they met at a social gathering. Many others provided detailed descriptions of their personal appearance.
• About 5 percent of the teens included photos of themselves in a swimsuit or underwear, and 15 percent included photos of friends in a swimsuit or underwear.
• Almost 40 percent of the profiles included the youth's first name, and about 9 percent included their full name.
• About 81 percent of the youth included the name of the city in which they live and another 28 percent named the school they attend.
• About 4 percent included their instant messaging name, and 1 percent included their e-mail address.
• Less than 1 percent included their telephone number. But when extrapolated to all teens on MySpace, nearly 75,000 youth may be including this private information.
• About 18 percent of the sites included evidence of alcohol use, 7 percent included evidence of tobacco use and 2 percent included evidence of marijuana use.
• Nearly 20 percent of the profiles included profanity, and almost 33 percent of the sites included swear words in the posted comments.

Mom, Dad and kids, if you use MySpace, or any other social networking site, you should follow the following tips and guidelines:

• Parents, engage your kids regularly on this topic. Make it a family discussion and ask them to show you their pages and those that they have been visiting.
• Use a screen name and don't post any personal data. Profiles and all data on MySpace should never use real names, date of birth, phone numbers, or addresses. Look beyong the obvious. For instance, don't post pictures of your home that reveal your address.
• Remember that anybody can see what you post. Unless you make your profile private, your profile and MySpace forums are accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.
• People can and will lie on MySpace. Gender, age and physical description can be altered with the click of a mouse. Keep that fact in mind when interacting with a user you’ve never met offline.
• Designate your page as "private" so you can control who has access to your page, protect your information and keep it out of the hands of the wrong hands.
• Leave out personal information such as your telephone number or address. With this information and your name, a well-connected person can find out a lot about you.
• Report bullying, harassment or other unwanted or unlawful contact. Use the "Contact MySpace" email system to register a complaint about a specific user or action.
• Report accounts held by minors. The minimum age for MySpace users is 14 years old.
• Don't click on any strange links or even read any strange messages from anyone, unless they are from a trusted friend.
• Protect every PC in your home or workplace that uses the Internet. Make sure the following programs are installed and running:
  • Anti-virus software with current profiles
  • Anti-spyware software with current profiles
  • Anti-spam software with current profiles
  • Firewall with current updates