Blog Assignment #4

            While “New Media” continues to shape the lives of its users in positive ways, there are some negatives attached that are often not thought of.  One of these negatives is the prevalence of online predators.  It is one of the biggest issues concerning “New Media” users today but a greater awareness could help prevent any further problems.

            With websites like Facebook and other various social networking sites, online predators are using this as an easy way to find their next victims.  Social networking websites provides lots of information on people.  Predators can easily find out information on where someone lives, what their interests are, etc. just by viewing someone’s profile.  Also, people can easily create a fake account on these websites, allowing older predators to act as if they are of the same age as their victim.  This is one of the most commonly used methods for predators to begin speaking to their victims.  Its scary how easy predators can come in contact with kids by doing this and the outcome can often be horrendous.  Many times the predator will convince their victim to send them sexual images of themselves or even set up a meeting in person.

            One example comes out of Missouri.  A 61-year-old man convinced an eleven-year-old girl to send him explicit images and videos of herself to him.  He later used those videos to threaten her, saying he would post them online if she did not continue to send him more (Child Sex Predator Kai Lundstroem Pedersen gets 30 Years For Terroizing Missouri Girl).  Eventually the man got arrested and put in jail for what he had done.

            Although it is a tough battle to fight, just a general awareness to online predators is important and could help in the future.  The more people understand how it works, the better they can combat it.  Parents need to be aware their child’s activity online, as well as the child having an understanding of what they could be getting into.