Otaku Is A Child Predator's Heaven (PG Thread)

[Pagan]

I have recently written a paper for a class I take in college about child predators and the internet. The results of the paper were as expected. Though changes are being made to make things alot harder for predators it is still way to easy for them to find ways to exploit and prey upon children. I based most of my research on myspace though some of it did come from here. I was mildly impressed with the changes myspace has made in security; if you're under like 14 or something your page can't even be viewed unless you add that person as a friend.

Its still quite easy to create an account with false information, and trick the naive and uncautious youngsters into adding a complete stranger as a friend. My professor has a 14 year old daughter and I asked him for permission to use her in my experiment. With my false account I approached the young lady and sent her a message asking her if we could be friends. Without even a question I was added. With this I add access to her pictures, a wellspring of personal information, and most importantly her friend list. I approuched serval of her friends and said I was her friend and they added me simply based on that. At this point I knew their names, school, how they look, and enough information about them to have kidnapped anyone of them. Not only that I also had gotten a few of there phone numbers, addresses, and offers to meet up with them somewhere.Out of 47 girls, only 11 asked me a questions, and only 3 refused to add me.

Otaku on the other hand goes souly on trust. It trusts that its members will have the integrity to be honest and do what they're suppose to. I remember when I was a young naive 16 year old member here trying desperately to make friends and be noticed. I sent several older members messages asking them to be my friend and they obligded me though seemily uninterested in any further contact. But just think if they were a predator and they come across this unsuspecting teenager desperate for friends. That's a problem waiting to happen. This became terribly evident to me when the "e-marrige" started to happen here at otaku. People feeling connections and obligations to people who they've never met.

Enough of me typing.........What do you think?

[Zen]

[color=darkred][size=1]

Well, I like to think that most members on the OBs are a bit smarter than the average MySpace user. We don't go around giving out our address/phone numbers to anyone. In fact, the only people who even know what state I live in are people I've been talking to for a few years, and I've basically proven not to be predators. Haha. Most of the people I socialize with on the OBs are to some point, mid to high level authors and have a dedicated knowledge of certain subject matters that not just any average schmoe could pick up on and talk about openly.

If a person is foolish enough to come along and post "I'm from so and so, this is my address. Send me a letter sometime. Hardy hahaha." I'm pretty sure the mods would come along and delete the post for that person's safety. I think our staff is a tad more responsible than a single man named Tom. While it is really sad that naive morons such as the subjects you posted would do such things as they are, I think that it's their fault basically if it happens. They give the internet a bad name by just putting themselves out there for the public.

While I don't even have to worry about predators and pedophiles, I still make it a rule for myself not to disclose my hometown, number, or any personal information like that to strangers over the net. Doing that is just stupid, and you're just asking to get molested if you do. Heh. I'm 16, and about the size of a grown man, so I don't fear any of that, but I still don't do it, just so I'm not made an example out of. Heh.

People just need to smarten up. I didn't have to be told not to post all my info online, I was just smart enough not to. Other people should be smart enough not to also.

[b]Edit:[/b] Even if people do go into the whole "otaku wedding" thing, there are things called instant images, video-chat, webcams and etc. to make sure that the people are for real.

[/color][/size]

[DeadSeraphim]

[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]OtakuBoards and MySpace are a completely different in terms of functionality and uses. the/myOtaku is different as well, as it doesn't really encourage friending as much, and puts more focus on personal creations. Even if that wasn't the case, I still think it's a nonissue - I mean, what kind of child predator would pick an anime nerd to begin with?[/font][/color][/size]

[2010DigitalBoy]

As a person who shells out a lot of my personal info to people I've talked to for 2 minutes, tells my life story almost offhandedly, and on some sites is increadibly flirtatious with guys, I think my danger rating is fairly high.

I really don't care if the other people are all putting on a facade... even if they turn out to be predators. I'm just plain old not afraid.

Really Im not so much better myself. There are some sights where I play as a girl and flirt with guys. Even if they are predators, I don't think I could be considered any better :animeswea

[James]

[font=arial]I think that the title of your original post is more than a little unfair. No matter what security measures we put in place, we are [i]never[/i] going to be able to monitor private conversation and we are never going to be able to be there to always protect people.

Ultimately, we can only really police what is posted on our site and obviously, if anything inappropriate is found, action is taken.

In terms of Private Messages, I think we have to find a balance. People who are being harassed or who are uncomfortable with another member can approach the staff to have that dealt with - but by the same token, we do not want to monitor people's PMs (not to mention that we couldn't physically do that, there are far too many sent each day for us to actually read).

We are about as careful as forums go when it comes to rules and how people abide by them. But we do not want to create a completely claustrophobic atmosphere where people no longer enjoy discussion. It has to be a balance.

Unfortunately, if one person wants to prey on another, they can do it on pretty much any medium where it is possible for two people to communicate - this is inclusive of OtakuBoards and any other communication site out there.

While we (and other sites) can include some security measures, we cannot (and would not want to) create arbitrary age restrictions that limit who people can talk to. Nor do we want to assume that older members are immediately more likely to be predatory; I can tell you that our membership ages vary greatly here and throughout our network and it would be unreasonable and unfair to start dividing members based on age, in any context.

Moreover, I continue to encourage parents of young members to register at OtakuBoards and to participate themselves. Several parents have actually done this and have become strong contributors and avid readers of OtakuBoards - this is something that I want to see continue, because I think the very best defense is an informed parent.[/font]

[Retribution]

[quote name='DeadSeraphim][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]I mean, what kind of child predator would pick an anime nerd to begin with?[/font][/color'][/size][/quote]
[size=1]What kind of person would be a child predator? I mean, no one is off-limits to those guys.

In any event, I take a rather callous stance towards this. If you put up your personal information and offer to meet with someone you know over the internet, you get what you deserve. This isn't a new phenomina, you know exactly what will happen if you act like a naive fool. I suppose it's natural selection...?[/size]

[Fyxe]

[quote name='DeadSeraphim][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]Even if that wasn't the case, I still think it's a nonissue - I mean, what kind of child predator would pick an anime nerd to begin with?[/font][/color'][/size][/quote]

[size=1][color=slategray]I don't know, there are some pretty sexy anime nerds out there. Take forty-year-old men cosplaying as Sailor Moon for example. Hawt.

Like it's been said, theOtaku/myOtaku/OtakuBoards differs quite a bit from MySpace. For one, a person's identity can be very vague on message boards. Normally they don't get into the finer details about who you are. It's more about sharing opinions with people from other locations. Sure, I've given out my information to some people, but mainly members that I've known for awhile.
For example, I'll allow people to add me on MSN messenger, sure. But usually nothing really comes from it, we usually don't chat often unless I've been frequently PMing them on here. Or we just click, either way.

I'm quite sure that none of my good internet friends are predators, I've talked to them on the phone, seen them on webcam, seen their pictures. And they've never tried to talk me into meeting up with them.
It's very easy to pick out internet predators, you honestly have to be blind if you cannot see them around. Then again, not everyone is so wise.

Oh, and I hate the new thing on MySpace where if you are under seventeen or whatever, no one over eighteen (unless they're on your friends list) can look at your site. And non-members can't view it.
Now I can't link my site. :P[/color][/size]

[Guest Snow-White]

Especially where Myspace is concerned, I don't place the blame on Myspace (or any other similar internet services, even here) for any incidents involving children. It's a parent's resposibility to moniter what a child does, not the internet. I fully understand the philisophy of it "taking a village to raise a child", but it's ridiculous that lawsuits are being filed over things that occurred due to a guardian's neglect. [I]All[/I] Myspace can do is set a fourteen year-old's profile to private unless they start demanding some form of age verification, which would most likely mean a credit card. Not everyone has a credit card. That would be severely irritating (at least to me).

I'll stop blabbering, but really, we need to stop placing the blame on everyone else and take care of ourselves and our children.

[Sangome]

[font=arial][size=1][color=darkorchid]As others have said before me, OB and other affiliated sites differ from that of MySpace. And, I do not blame MySpace for any possible crimes thay may occur on ther, either. That can happen on ANY site that allows communication.

Now my friends I have known since what I call "the days of Neopets". We've since migrated to other forum sites, and now YIM. I highly doubt any of them are pedophiles, as I've seen their pictures, been to their voice chats, heck, I've even talk to a few dear ones on the phone. They also have not tried to set up meetings with me or summat.

Not to mention, for a majority of these pradators to target youth, it's their OWN fault. Nowadays, like on Dateline's [I]To Catch a Predator[/I] , they perform those stings online to catch pedophiles. But what do the sting operators always pose as? Teens looking for sex. (They also have some BAAAAAAAD typing skills, but that's not important right now XD).

Or could it be? It seems to me that people who type clearly like this don't seem to face the brunt of many pedophilic advances. (or I could be wrong).

Not to mention, teens aren't nearly as stupid as the media seems to put us off. We're not all scraping around the internet, giving out our town names, street addresses, blah blah blah. Contrary to pupular belife, we DO have limitations. Heck, those afformentioned friends I mentioned? Not a one of them even knows my hometown name, nor what region of the state I live in.

Anyway, there's my two cents on the matter...or fifty cents. o.o[/font][/color][/size]

[John]

Hail the mighty Charles images.

[img]http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/10/raped6om4zoyx3.jpg[/img]

[pooperson]

I find Otaku to be much safer than Myspace. The people on Otaku don't give too much information, and there aren't pictures of them with hardly any clothes on. On MySpace, however, it is much easier to track someone down, I believe...

[Crazy Kev]

[COLOR=DarkGreen]I agree! In Myotaku , you feel safe and can trust that you won't get kidnapped and stuff. In Myspace, it's the opposite.[/COLOR]

[Sojiro47]

[quote name='taperson']On MySpace, however, it is much easier to track someone down, I believe...[/quote]
Not so. If you know what your doing, you could find anybody here, but screen names do slow the prosess down! I hate to say it, but theO and friend sites are very unsafe, but not all sixteen year-olds are naive! I'm speeking as one! We don't just arbitrarily give people our information! Sure, the Otaku sites aren't as a=safe as we want, but I still here, and I'm not leaving!

[Dragon Warrior]

[quote name='taperson']I find Otaku to be much safer than Myspace. The people on Otaku don't give too much information, and there aren't pictures of them with hardly any clothes on. On MySpace, however, it is much easier to track someone down, I believe...[/quote]
[size=1]Myspace is like a lot of other sites. It, like others, gives you the chance to put up valid information on yourself. It's simply the person's choice to put that information up. They never had to. So basically it's the people there making it unsafe for themselves, not myspace itself.

All sites are dangerous for kids and teens these days. Predators can get them anywhere. They can hack through computers and find your IP Address. Even Otaku[b]Boards[/b] is a danger, and you'd be ignorant not to think that. Basically the moment you log onto a website where you have an account, you're taking a risk. People are working on taking care of sexual predators, but what can we really do about it? It's hard to trust someone over the internet.[/size]

[Sojiro47]

I'm with Dragon Warrior on this one. As much as I want to trust all of you, there's only a hand full that I do! And I knoe that they won't give anything about me up! But if some Crap-predator tries to prey on me, I'll hurt them!

No, we can't really trust anyone on the Boards, or on the Otaku. But what I want to know is what we're going to do about it. I know that Adam and the Moderators are doing their best, but if we sit idolly(*sp?), we might as well let the predators have their way! So I'll ask again, what are [I][B]we[/B][/I] going to do about it?

[DeadSeraphim]

[quote name='sojiro47']Not so. If you know what your doing, you could find anybody here, but screen names do slow the prosess down! I hate to say it, but theO and friend sites are very unsafe, but not all sixteen year-olds are naive! I'm speeking as one! We don't just arbitrarily give people our information! Sure, the Otaku sites aren't as a=safe as we want, but I still here, and I'm not leaving![/quote]
[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]********. myOtaku/theOtaku/OB only has a search for screen names, and that's all. You can't search for full real names, AIM screen-names, or addresses, like in MySpace. Furthermore, the only information any of theOtaku services holds is your birthday and random (useless) information about your goals and whatnot - and that's optional. Without knowing someone's screenname, tracking anyone down on myO/theO/OB is damn near impossible. Don't start scare mongering when there's no basis for it.[/font][/color][/size]

[Sojiro47]

[quote name='DeadSeraphim][size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]********. myOtaku/theOtaku/OB only has a search for screen names, and that's all. You can't search for full real names, AIM screen-names, or addresses, like in MySpace. Furthermore, the only information any of theOtaku services holds is your birthday and random (useless) information about your goals and whatnot - and that's optional. Without knowing someone's screenname, tracking anyone down on myO/theO/OB is damn near impossible. Don't start scare mongering when there's no basis for it.[/font][/color'][/size][/quote]
Unnessissary, maybe. But you didn't answer the question. I appologize for the "scare mongering" and for my rudeness, but since the issue was brought up, and it is serious, what are we going to do about it? I don't have much to worry about, as I'm pretty cautious, but we do need to do something.

[DeadSeraphim]

[quote name='Sojiro47']Unnessissary, maybe. But you didn't answer the question. I appologize for the "scare mongering" and for my rudeness, but since the issue was brought up, and it is serious, what are we going to do about it? I don't have much to worry about, as I'm pretty cautious, but we do need to do something.[/quote]
[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]You can't do anything about it. If it's going to happen, [i]it's going to happen[/i], no matter the precautions you take. What would you suggest, getting every new member to theO and OB background checked and profiled? It's not feasible, and it's [u]not even a problem[/u]. At the moment theO has security through obscurity, since it's much smaller than MySpace. When it gets bigger, though, I imagine it won't become an issue anyway.

Seriously, the people who get stalked on MySpace are [i]young, dumb, and more often than not, l[b]ying about their age[/b][/i]. They set themselves up for the fall. People on an anime community usually have more brains about them, and, besides that, theO just doesn't provide the facilities for a predator to find out everything about someone, or for a member to really give out that information. It is a nonissue. This whole thing is a nonissue. It has been a nonissue ever since OB, then myO, was set up.

Get over it.[/font][/color][/size]

[Kira93]

[FONT=Arial]I think any site that allows you to make accounts can be reasonably unsafe without some common sense. :rolleyes: you just gotta know when to draw the line when it comes to personal information.[/FONT]

[2010DigitalBoy]

Giving it more thought, id say otaku is a fairly secure sight. I mean, on Gaia or myspace, one could easily, in one hour, find out all of a person's personal data. i've seen it haooen all the time, especially on gaia. Once two people become friends, even sometimes when they've only just met, they shell out their name, pictures, what state/city they live in and everything.

I myself am willing to bet that at least 10 random people I've never talked to know what city I live in, my real name, age, and what I look like. Yeah, the internet is dangerous as **** and every single person on it is in danger, it's just a few unlucky bastards who give their info to the wrong guy.

OB is a lot safer, though. On here people aren't as open and we talk WAY less sexually. It's easily the safest site I've ever been to. Aside from neopets.

[SunfallE]

[COLOR=RoyalBlue]Actually saying that the Internet is a Child Predator?s Heaven would be a more accurate title. It?s not necessarily the site but the person?s online habits that a predator is looking for. In order for them to prey on someone they have to put some form of information up that will tell the predator where they are and when they can find them. Or they look for the type who will give them the information when asked.

I think the biggest problem is users who have never had anyone tell them how dangerous it can be to give out personal information. A lot of parents I know like to pretend such a thing could never happen so they do nothing to monitor or even explain to their kids about how important it is to not disclose information to a total stranger online. And then when something does happen they scream and yell at the sites for not protecting their children.

So it really is just a matter of being informed on how to protect yourself. Sure there are those who can hack into stuff and get the information, but it you don?t post it on your site there will be nothing for them to find. So pretty much any site can be fairly safe if you just use a little common sense.[/COLOR]

[nezzyjean]

Pagan, you make a very good point in your research results. While the online predators are in the wrong for approaching the underage girls (or boys in some very rare cases), the kids aren't really helping to keep them away either, in some cases are even posting pictures, quotes, and titles on their sites that practically encourages a predator to find out where they live and molest them. One of my little 13 year old cousin's friends from school had "its nice...to be naughty" as her myspace screen name, and countless others had innapropriate profile images and/or remarks under their "about me" section.

Seeing things like this on little girl's web pages infuriated me and caused me to delete my own myspace a little under two months ago as an escape from all the "what is the world coming to?" revelations. It makes me go nearly ballistic to see these kids trying to grow up way too fast and drawing negative attention from possibly dangerous "friends" as a result. The idea of children their age even having or needing a myspace seems ludacris to me.


However, the otakuboards is unsurprisingly different. It is designed as a forum, a place for discussion, unlike myspace, which seems to be designed to exploit oneself. Well, not really i suppose, but that is what it has become. You post pictures of yourself in hopes that others leave comments on your appearance, you get as many friends as possible (even in some cases complete strangers who you have never met and will never have any conversation nor connection to) and put a bunch of personal information on your personal site and leave comments on other "friends" personal sites.

however keep in mind that i'm not talking about the space's forum section or anything, because over the duration of the rough year and a half i was a member, i never really experimented with the forum part much.

ANYWAY, my point is that yes, the kids are also to blame for whatever evil becomes of them by being promiscuous on the internet, and yes, activity on forums like the otakuboards is less likely to get you molested than activity on myspace. But really, myspace is not the person to blame, the blame that everyone seems to pin on myspace should be shifted over to the kids themselves and their parents. The kids are the ones ignorantly attracting the attention of predators and the parents are the ones not monitoring their kids enough. (i am not saying that the predators themselves should not be blamed, the full blame goes to them for being perverts.)

[Horendithas]

[COLOR=Sienna][quote name='nezzyjean]While the online predators are in the wrong for approaching the underage girls (or boys in some very rare cases)[/quote]Before you start giving the wrong impression that boys being approached is rare I?d like to point out that in a 2000 study, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Justice Department said that one of every five young people ages 10 to 17 surveyed said they had received a sexual solicitation over the Internet in the previous year. Also current studies tell us that 1 in 6 boys will be molested before the age of 18. So the idea that only girls are approached is not correct. The issue about boys is that unlike girls our society tends to treat boys as cowards if something like that happens so many cases are believed to go unreported. If you really want to know more then check out this site. [URL=http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/sexualassault/internet_child_sexual_predators.htm][U][COLOR=Sienna]Internet Predators[/COLOR][/U][/URL] [QUOTE=nezzyjean']ANYWAY, my point is that yes, the kids are also to blame for whatever evil becomes of them by being promiscuous on the internet, and yes, activity on forums like the otakuboards is less likely to get you molested than activity on myspace. But really, myspace is not the person to blame, the blame that everyone seems to pin on myspace should be shifted over to the kids themselves and their parents. The kids are the ones ignorantly attracting the attention of predators and the parents are the ones not monitoring their kids enough. (i am not saying that the predators themselves should not be blamed, the full blame goes to them for being perverts.)[/quote]You must be joking, blaming the kids for being molested? I?d like to remind you that by the law they are kids and not even legally able to be considered responsible. Predators know that they are young, inexperienced and many of them are masters at manipulating the children to eventually gain their trust. It?s a double standard to tell kids that they aren?t considered mature enough to be an adult until they are 18 and then to turn around and tell them it?s their fault if someone abused them.

If anyone is to be blamed it would be the parents since unless someone takes the time to teach kids about the dangers of online predators, they won?t know any better. Just like teaching a kid that touching a hot stove will burn. It?s not knowledge that they are born with, it?s something that has to be taught. The very idea that the kids are to blame is absurd. Even if they know the dangers and they still meet a stranger anyway, you are still talking about a lack of maturity here and the responsibility falls completely on the predator who usually is an adult and knows better.

Anyway, James, SunfallE and others in this thread already pointed out that pretty much any site can be used by predators and it?s up to the person, if their parents or someone else taught them, to do their best to stay safe. [/COLOR]

[Ryo the Tactician]

[SIZE=1]Pagan has a point.

Yes, myspace and otakuboards are different, but there are many young, naive kids on here as well. Now, I've never seen anyone give out more than their A/S/L on OB, and honestly, how many 16 year old "Alex" or "John"s are living in a given state or even city? The problem with myspace is that it has pictures, schools, and generally, enough information to [i]find[/i] the person, if some pedophile were so driven.

Hopefully no innocent newbie would give out enough personal information on OB for someone to pinpoint them, like on myspace. However, people really should watch out and really not give any personal info out on the 'net in general. Then there's online relationships and the like, but that's a whole new can of worms.

As for the molestation, I don't remember anyone telling me that it's not smart to give out lots of personal information the internet. I suppose some kids can be a bit dense, but to me it seems fairly obvious. However, some children are young, naive, and trusting, and it is the parents job to let them know that it's dumb to give out personal info on the 'net. It isn't fair to blame the children for the manipulations of adults, but it is also elementary not to give out personal information to strangers. Kids may not be where the blame lies, but that's no excuse for them to be stupid. That's why so many kids these days are setting their myspaces to private, and only friend-ing IRL friends, eliminating the possibility of a predator stumbling across their page.

My two cents.[/SIZE]

[James]

[QUOTE=Ryo the Tactician][SIZE=1]

Hopefully no innocent newbie would give out enough personal information on OB for someone to pinpoint them, like on myspace. However, people really should watch out and really not give any personal info out on the 'net in general. Then there's online relationships and the like, but that's a whole new can of worms.
[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[font=arial]I think that's a key point. If children are using the Internet, it is really up to their parents to arm them with the appropriate information - in the same way that parents would tell their kids not to talk to strangers, or not to wander off by themselves in public. Parents are the ones who need to define those boundaries - I do not think that web sites themselves need to be responsible for that (although obviously web sites should still apply by applicable laws).

As has been said, I think we provide a reasonable level of security here without interfering with discussion. However, at the end of the day, this is a discussion site and people make choices about who to communicate with (especially when it comes to PM). So no matter where you go, it's always going to be [i]possible[/i] for something inappropriate to happen.[/font]