MySpace Activates Amber Alert System, New Instant Messaging System

Two New Systems Greatly Improve Ease of MySpace Use

Amber Alert now reaches 108 million more people. Today, MySpace announced installing an Amber Alert system to its popular internet social network. The Amber Alert System, which went nationwide in 2002, is an alert system designed to inform the public of recently abducted children and individuals with the possibility of recovering them quicker by widely disseminating key details such as the abductor's vehicle description, license plate, and suspected direction. Having 108 million more people instantly in touch with Amber Alert should exponentially boost its effectiveness. MySpace, once carrying stigma as a place where sexual predators can connect with underage children, plans to issue Amber Alerts to people online in the region where abduction has taken place. It is supposed to appear at the top of a user's page, with a hyperlink attached so that pictures and other key information can be viewed. So far, the traditional Amber Alert has recovered over 230 missing children.

With this addition, MySpace hopes to make its services appear more secure and safe for its younger users. Since Myspace's inception and high profile negative news reports, MySpace has made several such changes such as not allowing children under 14 to create profiles. Another new security tool to be installed, codenamed "Zephyr", will alert parents to the username, age and location that their child lists on their personal MySpace pages. Also, e-mail verification and another system that prevents users over 18 from contacting underage users and vice versa are in the works. Last summer, MySpace deleted over 250,000 profiles of people under 14.