BlogSafety addresses parent concerns

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 11 (UPI) -- A new site aims at helping parents with concerns over social networking sites.

BlogSafety.com will include kid-tech news, updated expert advice and provide an interactive forum among parents, teens and experts.

According to the site, sponsors will provide financial support as well as key information to BlogSafety staff for parents' questions and concerns.

The site, from the founders of SafeKids.com and NetFamilyNews.org, is hosted pro-bono by LiveWorld, which provides private-label online community and social networking sites for major brands such as eBay and HBO.

Co-directing the site are technology journalists and Internet safety experts Larry Magid and Anne Collier, co-authors of the soon-to-be released "MySpace Unraveled: What It Is and How to Use It Safely."

"It's a social network about social networking and family technology," Collier said. "A vibrant discussion is already under way with parents, teens and experts mixing it up daily." Besides, asked Magid, "Why should kids have all the fun?"

The site is being supported by social-network and Internet companies including America Online, Bebo, Facebook, Friendster, MySpace and Xanga, which have been taking heat in recent months over ensuring online teen safety.

"These companies have put aside their competitive differences to support an essential cause: protecting children through education and awareness," said BlogSafety advisory board member and Mayo Clinic professor Daniel Broughton.

Broughton is cofounder and director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and is joined on the advisory board by social-networks researcher Danah Boyd of the University of California at Berkeley, veteran Connecticut youth officer Detective Frank Dannahey and software pioneer Daniel Bricklin.