Internet Safety
Published by GHC • Mar 17th, 2008 • Category: Guest Bloggers, Odds & Endsby tash, age 12
Internet safety is a BIG deal! I know it sounds silly to say that someone could somehow get your home information and stalk or possibly injure you, but unfortunately they could do even worse things. Although most websites are safe and friendly, some can be badly built, and the people who visit them could be quite rude. I know you may be wondering what this has to do with horses and horse websites, but just wait and see what harmful things people can do on any website.
Your mum may always be saying, “Don’t go onto that site; it seems a bit harmful or rude.” Make sure you listen to her! I am a regular player on Howrse.com, and in the forums, there are sometimes people who say very rude things, either because they don’t like the game or they might just want attention. Once, there was a phrase that was in French, and it translated to something incredibly rude with a few bad words.
You can usually tell if a website is dodgy. It will probably be one of those free-web ones that doesn’t look very flash. They might continuously be asking for money or personal information such as your last name, where you live, a credit card number, your phone number, or other things. Stay away from those websites and maybe warn friends that they are bad sites that shouldn’t be visited. You should also probably tell your parents because it could be worse than you thought, and they might have to do something about it. It could have also given your computer a virus.
All up, sadly, there are those people that feel the need to hurt others or sneakily follow them everywhere they go. Of course, this doesn’t apply to your faithful horse who follows you everywhere and doesn’t want to spend a second without you, or your good friends and family! I recommend always asking friends or parents before signing up to any Internet club, and never making plans to meet someone from a website in real life! I hope no one here at GHC ever runs into a bad site or person.
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OMG this is so true!
ps I play howrse to! i think it’s ok, but there are some VERY rude people on therre…
Do you know that if people type in your name at a website they can find out where you live? I have no idea why they would want to do that, but they still do! I think they should get rid of that.
Also, Leadmare, how did you manage to get all those cities on the map? How do you get them? Do sites track where you live when you visit them?
Great job on this blog, tash! And you are right, internet safety IS a big deal!
Good question Stargazer. The map comes from a service called whos.amung.us. They don’t collect personal information about who you are or where you live. They use your computer’s IP address to place the hearts on the map. An IP address is a unique address that computers use to identify and communicate with each other. If you’re geekily inclined, you can learn more at Wikipedia.
I don’t know of websites that reveal where you live except for sites that take information from telephone books. But as you know, we encourage anyone under 18 to use an alias (not your real name) to protect your privacy.
Hope this is helpful!
Internet Safetey is a big deal! This is definatley a great blog! Thanks for posting this tash! You are a valuable membe of the herd!
Sadly, the internet would never be a safe place, and people will always continue to be as disrespectful as they are now. However, this is a great blog to warn everyone of internet safety! Excellent job on it, and keep it up!
oh, my mom and I were just going through some of the games I play online. We decided not to go on howrse.com anymore, along with a few other games. They just weren’t safe anymore…
thanks guys! I wasn’t expecting so many comments! i had a fair few assignments and porojects due lately so i haven’t been on the computer! sorry i’m back now! :D