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A new era ... NSW schools are set to become more relaxed after students accessing social networking sites.

THE ban on students accessing social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter at school could be relaxed as the NSW Education Department reviews its internet filtering policy.

Social media sites are at present blocked, but with its internet filtering contract due to expire, the department is surveying schools to ensure the next version of the software meets their needs.

Schools ''have been asked to complete a survey designed to identify the features they believe are required in the future'', a department spokesman said. ''Part of this process has included the question of student access to sites under the social networking category.''

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The department's director of public schools, Dianne Marshall, told an education forum this week she believed that social networking would play a major role in education.

Lila Mularczyk, the deputy president of the NSW Secondary Principals Council - which reviews internet filtering categories as part of a schools web-filtering control group - said there had been varied responses towards social networking.

But through ongoing consultation with the Digital Education Revolution program, the council was aware of websites that could be useful for students to access at school and was looking forward to the survey results, she said.

A spokeswoman for the NSW Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations, Rachael Sowden, said parents would welcome supervision of students accessing social networking sites at school.

''Kids are actually accessing it at school anyway on their mobile phones. It's better to help support our students rather than put our heads in the sand and hope they don't access it by blocking it. We'd much rather have policies in place that support its safe usage.''

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NSW schools may lift social networking ban

27-03-2012 08:47 Richard Allan, Facebook's director of policy in Europe, talks with Ian Katz about Facebook's policy on expansion into China and how much access to users' details it is willing to allow http://www.guardian.co.uk

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Guardian Open Weekend: Facebook and China - the Guardian - Video

A new social networking trend has users getting increasingly personal with their digital content.

We are inundated with ways to share. Photos, food, news, videos, games, you name it there are innumerable platforms for sharing content with the World Wide Web. Privacy has become an increasingly important aspect of these social networks, and applications have responded to varying degrees. Google+ Circles were arguably one of the most distinct steps toward more customized sharing, and a Facebook Lists refocus followed suit.

Not good enough, say some. The private social network may sound like an oxymoron, but it is a very real emerging trend. Path could be seen as the grandfather for this momentum. The app originally introduced itself with the idea of whittling down your friend list to a select 50 people. But some other networks that have hit the market are trying to go even smaller. FamilyLeaf is a new application to connect your relatives, Nextdoor is only for you and your neighbors. Smaller yet: applications like Pair and TheIcebreak are for couples only (the latter, to be fair, is also a curated activity guide but there is a strong social element). Thats as small as your social network can get.

So whats the impetus for these increasingly exclusive platforms? You can chalk part of it up to privacy fears. Social networks have gotten big, cumbersome, and laden with concerns over where your data is going and what is being done with it. Consider that fact that these sites are go-tos for employers, users have to keep strict tabs over whats made public, whats showing up, and who they are friends with. Its a lot of work, admittedly.

At the same time, the question of whether a private social network needs to exist is begging to be asked. Isnt that what phone calls or text messages or Skype chats or emails are for? The problem of private, digital communication was solved a long time ago. Social networks became a thing because we hadnt yet found a way for mass, community-driven digital experiences. Then the Myspaces and the Friendsters came along and started that evolution, setting the stage for what we know and use today.

You could argue that the purpose of the truly private social network is to offer up all the features that public platforms do for you and your significant other. The ability to communicate via a News Feed-like function, to post and share photos and links and videos. Its more visually rich and interesting than an email or text thread maybe only slightly though. In fact ,most of the screenshots from Pair just look like an iMessage thread.

While all of these options come with their benefits (for instance with Pair you can log details like anniversary reminders and touch each other with virtual fingerprints; with TheIcebreak you get points that can be redeemed for date nights), the overwhelming emotion these platforms seem to be preying on is narcissism.

The easy culprit is to place the blame on the privacy fears that come with using sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, but those alone arent entirely responsible. Part of the draw is the unquenchable thirst to digitally document ourselves that social media has created. Jon Mitchell over at ReadWriteWeb recently wrote about quitting Path:

I had my doubts about Path 2.0 when it launched. It was like a gorgeous mirror for gazing at oneself. It seemed vain and unnecessary.

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Can you really make a ‘personal’ social network?

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By Karen Stiles

CREATED Mar. 27, 2012

MILWAUKEE- Could new technology or social networking sites put you at risk for identity theft?

It could, if you have not taking measures to protect your information on electronic devices or social networking sites.

How are thieves using new technology and social networking sites to steal our identity?

Most of us have been doing a good job of protecting our information by shredding old documents, and not releasing personal information to people we do not know.

However, criminals can steal personal information that we may have stored on smart phones, gaming devices, tablets, and other electronic devices.

If your device is stolen or hacked into, you could be at great risk of having your identity stolen.

Also, criminals can use information such as birthdays, maiden names, hometown, etc., listed on our profiles to gain access to our existing accounts or to establish new accounts. How do we protect this information from being accessed by thieves?

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High tech identity theft

CAMPBELL, CA--(Marketwire -03/28/12)- A new social network designed for adults to connect with other men, women and couples in their area for sexual rendezvous, Social Sex (www.SocialSex.com), is now the world's largest social networking dating website with more than 20 million members worldwide. Thought of as a "Facebook" for those over 18, its increasing popularity is attributed to its role as a social network where adults can easily meet and hook up with like-minded members.

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Social Network, Social Sex, Thrives as Place for Adults to Hook Up