MySpace's new top cop

Now under intense scrutiny for the activities--and oversight--of MySpace's underage users, parent company Fox Interactive Media has hired a chief security officer.

Former federal prosecutor Hemanshu (Hemu) Nigam will oversee safety, education and privacy programs and law enforcement affairs for MySpace, along with other Fox Interactive properties. Given that MySpace now has 68 million members and is still growing like gangbusters, he'll likely have to rely heavily on the Web site's swelling ranks of deputies.

Nigam's hiring is just the latest step that the company has taken to allay parents' concerns about what their children are doing and revealing on the site.

While many bloggers applauded the hiring, some wondered how effective any policing would be. Others saw the uproar over MySpace as an echo of earlier worries about children and the Internet.

Blog community response:

"Nigam will undoubtedly undertake a number of public steps to reassure the public (or news media) that Myspace is proactive about user security. Now, these public steps will take time, effort and resources - and I actually commend Myspace for taking them on. The fact is there is a real need for security and privacy education amongs Myspace's users, and regardless of how well-suited 15 year olds are for protecting themselves in the public sphere, it is important that Myspace takes an active role in protecting the vulnerable. While being security-focued protects Myspace's brand, it is my hope that they actually implement solutions that their users need (as opposed to solutions that primarily sound good in sound bytes)."
--Unit Structures::Fred Stutzman

"As a parent, I am glad to see MySpace reaching out to our concerns. They really have to because the growing concern over what our children are doing online is not going to fade away. In fact I am an advocate that all parents should monitor everything their children does online."
--SearchRank

"You can hardly blame them for doing this after all the recent stories about the 'dangers of MySpace' which in fact were articles originally written in 1998 which had been edited to have the word 'internet' replaced with 'MySpace'. They had just better be careful that they don't clean the place up so much that all the teenagers move elsewhere."
--GSOH required

"The reality is that MySpace isn't any different than any other blogging site out there - whether it's Typepad, Blogger, LiveJournal, Xanga, or even a MovableType or Wordpress blog running on cheap shared hosting - disclosing too much personal information can put one at risk. That risk is really no different today than it was ten years ago with free hosting at Geocities"
--The Blog Herald