Hey guys! I'm loving my summer holidays so far! It has been SO much fun! The
other day I slept until noon, went on Whyville for a couple of hours and chatted, and then went back to sleep. And, come to think of it, I did that yesterday and it seems I'm doing that right now. Oh well. It's all good, anyway. I'm doing a lot of traveling in late July and all of August. It'll be great to get away from here.
And speaking of location, that is a good way to start off my article. Or rather, location and Whyville.
How many times do you see "a/s/l?" or "Where are you from?" or maybe "Where
do you live?" on your screen? For me, "a/s/l?" is way up there in my internet lingo, just like lol and l8er. It's always been okay. Until tonight.
I was about to go to my team's Solstice Safari meeting, and was sitting in
the Square. Some girl was talking to her new found boyfriend and ask "Where
do you live?" That's when it hit me. It really made me wonder.
"Use this tool when:
-someone is asking for personal information like phone numbers or home
addresses."
Many citizens should recognize this quote from The Whyville Call Box. With
auditions for The Whyville Patrol happening at the time I am writing this
article, I have been really alert for things to report, but at the same time
trying not to overdo it.
So where do we draw at the line at asking for personal information?
Of course, it's nice to know a bit about the person you're talking to.
Gender, for the most part, is self-explanatory. There have been a few days
when I misjudge, but the person is usually pretty good about my error.
Age. For the most part, people on this site are from about 11 or 12 to about
14 or 15. There are of course exceptions, but I'm saying mostly.
And now for the big question of location. Obviously, you should not give out
your direct address, but how precise do we want be? For example, I'm Canadian. When I am asked where I live, Canada seems a little too vague. It is, of course, the second largest country in the world. But, seeing as the province I live in is mostly rural, telling that seems a little too precise. What to do, what to do?
This topic also brings up another subject. How precise does the question have to
be before it is considered a serious case and should be reported? And what qualifies as a
frivolous report in this case?
I hope there are some people who consider this carefully. I mean, isn't cool
to find out you're talking to someone in Australia? Or England?
Just like many other things in life, this is one of those things with a
positive and negative side. Just make sure you judge to the best of your
ability!
I think I'm a going to go watch the fireworks on Monday. I wonder if my friends are willing to be seen in public with me.
Giggler01
<:3 )~~~~
Note from City Hall: Your guidelines should ideally come from a discussion with your parents, but we encourage people to get no more detailed than the closest major metropolitan area. For example, everyone who works for Whyville lives in or near Los Angeles.
If someone wants to know more detail than that, we will probably give a light punishment, depending on how they're behaving about it. We strongly feel that people should not ask for or give out last names, phone numbers, or other details, like the name of your school or your soccer team -- we will punish people for asking or giving out info of this sort.
Talk to your parents if you're not certain what's safe for you! If you come across someone who's being very sneaky or very demanding (or both!) about this info, whether in Whyville or elsewhere, please report them to the appropriate authorities immediately, as they could be a child predator.
