The question of Social Media privacy and the risks associated have been filtering down to the general user for some time now - and with good reason. One of the studies I found for this week's Fact Box suggests that a quarter of the 1000 teens surveyed had either posted something they later regretted or had hacked onto other users profiles.

Awareness does seem to be growing however, with even the average user seeming to think about reputation monitoring tools and the later effects of how they represent themselves online. Below some statistics that explore this area:

A quick run down of the dangers and risks teens are engaging in on social media sites (10th August 2009)

• 39 percentage have posted something they later regretted.
• 37 percentage have used the sites to make fun of other students.
• 25 percentage have created a profile with a false identity.
• 24 percentage have hacked into someone else's social networking account.
• 13 percentage have posted nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves or others online.

Associated with these dark Social Media pursuits, is a growing need to privatise user profiles, which is due in part to ‘facestalking’ which refers to receiving unwanted friend requests or messages. A recent survey by Pew Internet suggests that over a third of teens online have been approached by complete strangers, in addition to this, 31% of teens have ‘friends’ with whom they have never met personally.

A quick rundown of the ways in which teens are privatising their profiles:

• 66 percent of them say that their profile is not visible to all Internet users. They limit access to their profiles in some way.
• 49 percent of social network users say they use the networks to make new friends.
• 39 percent of teens online have been contacted by strangers online – this could be any kind of online contact, not necessarily contact through social network sites.
• 21 percent of teens who have been contacted by strangers have engaged an online stranger to find out more information about that person (that translates to 7% of all teens online). 
• 23 percent of teens who have been contacted by a stranger online say they felt scared or uncomfortable because of the online encounter (that translates to 7% of all teensonline).

Overall, it is clear that there is a definite element of risk associated with social networking sites, but in addition to this there are clear strategies that teens can use to privatise their profiles in an attempt to avoid the negatives that come with social networking. Teens should enjoy the endless benefits of social networks, be wary of the dangers (and strangers) and try to avoid inappropriate behaviour online. This way, they can enjoy these sites for only the positives. And really, most teens should know that posting nude pics online is a big no-no, remember Vanessa Hudgens? Of course you do.