Formspring
Overview
Formspring is the largest social community focused on questions and answers among its users. It was founded in November 2009 to give people a fun, simple way to ask questions and find out more about each other. It is one of the fastest growing social networks among kids, teens and tweens. As of August 2011, it has over 24 million accounts worldwide & 3.5 million unique visitors every day. Most people receive several questions every day and can choose to respond or not respond based upon their interest. People can also look at their friends responses and smile at them if they find the responses witty, amusing or interesting. Formspring also allows its users to share their questions and responses on facebook, further increasing the social nature of the community and bringing new users on board.
Safety Concerns
Formspring has implemented substantial safeguards to prevent abuse of the network and focus on social sharing vs. 'trash talking.' For example, questions like, "Why does everyone hate Andy?" will now be flagged and suppressed. This focuses the site on more friendly and safe content. However, formspring does have an anonymous nature to it and is a mechanism for people to interact/meet, so like all online communities, this is potentially a concern for parents who have children on the site.
Actions to Take
Users should make sure that they go to the privacy tab and limit contact from anonymous users. Parents should also speak with children about responsible questions and ensure that their children understand the reputation consequences of asking or participating in reputation-damaging conversations. Parents should look at the site and remove any questions/threads that they find irresponsible.
Safety Score
*Note: The safety score is assigned based on the site features at the time of review and the assumption that the child uses the site properly. 1=most unsafe; 2=fairly unsafe; 3=moderate; 4=fairly safe; 5=most safe; NR=not rated.