June 21, 2006
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., June 21 /U.S. Newswire/ — Xanga.com will highlight the extensive safety measures created for its site, especially its groundbreaking rating system, at two industry conferences this week sponsored by WiredSafety.org and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC)(r). More people than ever before are turning to blogging and social networking sites like Xanga.com to share information and dialogue with friends and family. The increased use has also brought increased concerns about Internet safety.
“We applaud Xanga’s dedication to online safety,” said Ernie Allen, president and CEO of NCMEC. “We believe that through partnership and open dialogue we can work together to educate children about staying safer online and we look forward to working with organizations like Xanga that share our commitment.”
The ratings system allows members to self-rate their own content. Xanga uses sophisticated technology so that the users’ ratings are as accurate as possible. Hiler and Xanga co-founder and president, Marc Ginsburg, hired Dr. Arthur Pober to advise on the design and implementation of its first-in-the-industry rating system. Dr. Pober is the former head of the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), founding president of the ESRB (the video game ratings association) and a leading published expert on ratings systems. The Xanga rating system is similar to that used by the Motion Picture Association of America.
“Xanga has long supported safety measures to help protect its members,” said Xanga co-founder and CEO John Hiler. “We are taking an approach that empowers the online community to help police the site and protect their privacy. This ratings system is yet another innovation like Protected Posting, Xanga Footprints and Xanga Lock that gives our users the tools they need to stay safe online.”
The company also has worked closely with CARU to embrace their best practice recommendations for keeping children safe online.
Additionally, based on input from WiredSafety.org’s founder, Parry Aftab, Xanga launched a section of its Web site dedicated to online safety that includes safety tips to empower teens, parents and law enforcement to take steps to stay safe in their online community. The site — http://safety.xanga.com — is linked from all Xanga Web pages.
“These conferences give us a chance to listen to law enforcement, industry experts, families and the social network community about Xanga’s safety features as well as educate them about the importance of responsible behavior by our members,” said Marc Ginsburg.
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