Facebook, cell phones and online games. Most BYU students and young adults across the country use one or more of these everyday. But how safe are you when you tap into technology?

Charles Knutson, a BYU professor in the computer science department, hopes to share tips through a podcast and Web site about how to stay safe on Facebook, as well as anywhere on the Internet, even your cell phone.

For social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, Knutson's warns about the danger of online predators. He said that these networks, used to maintain relationships with people you already know, can be a great resource. His caution is of the dangers of meeting people through those kinds of networks.

"Be very cautious about building emotional relationships and bonding with people that you don't know," Knutson said. "You create a connection before you have had an opportunity to spiritually gauge the appropriateness of the relationship in the first place. We do that by meeting people in the real world."

Knutson said setting profiles to private is an important step, as well as avoiding posting any personal information, doing this can prevent interactions with predators and strangers.

BYU student Brittany Williams, a home and family major from Riverside, Calif., practices this safety principle.

"People who I don't know have asked me to be their friend, but I just don't accept them," Williams said.

With so much access to technology, society is more vulnerable than ever to explicit content on the Internet through computers, game systems and cells phones. Knudson's latest podcast focused on handheld and mobile devices.

"Young adults and teenagers [are] withdrawing into a world of text messaging and chatting and social networking and loosing some of their social abilities to just function in the world face to face," Knutson said.

The podcast, found at www.internetsafetypodcast.com, consists of interviews and discussion about different aspects of Internet safety. Also available on the Web site is the Internet safety wiki, which provides information about topics discussed in the podcast like phishing, online predators, pornography and statistics about Internet use in teens.

"There's a fine line sometimes between what we might call controllable excess and less controllable addiction," Knutson said.

This can include online gaming. Knutson mentioned a young man who put off his mission for the online game World of Warcraft. One of Knutson's podcasts focus on online gaming and how to prevent those situations.

As a father of 10 kids, a member of the bishopric in a BYU student ward and a professor of computer science, Knutson has many reasons to combat the corrosive influences on the Internet.

The BYU student chapter of Communities for Decency, a group of students committed to not just talking about the dangers of pornography, but doing something about it, is hosting Knutson on Thurs., Oct. 16 at 11:00 a.m. in the Jesse Knight Building. Knutson and the student chapter invite student volunteers to help by adding information to the online wiki to increase the resources available.

"Our goal is to educate BYU students about the dangers of pornography by teaching them how to fight it now so that they can fight it in their future communities," said Stephanie Savage, co-president of the BYU chapter of Communities for Decency.

Copyright Brigham Young University 9 Oct 2008