The Basics | Teens Safety Guidelines | Information for Parents
Your AIM Pages profile is public and available to the Internet at large. Do not post information that you should keep private, such as your full name, address or telephone number. Recent newspaper headlines have included stories about people's privacy being abused online, primarily as a result of information they posted in their profiles. Be cautious about what you post online.
Never reveal your full name, home address, telephone number, school, place of work or any other identifying information in your AIM Pages profile or initial correspondence with people that you meet online. Anonymity can be a thing to cherish when you are on the Internet.
When meeting new people online, use common sense and take things slowly. Make thoughtful decisions and consider your safety at all times. Remember: People online may not be who they say they are, and everything you read online may not be true. Just because someone is nice to you online does not mean he or she is a nice person in real life.
Teens, never agree to go anywhere or meet an online friend in person. Adults, if you choose to meet an online friend in person, always tell another trusted adult the details of the meeting (name of the person you are meeting, where you are going and when you will return). In fact, bring a friend along if you can. Be sure to pick a public place and provide your own transportation to and from the meeting.
Photos that you upload to AIM Pages are not only public, but they can be copied and shared by others without your knowledge. They can literally exist on the Internet for years and years after you've deleted them! Ask yourself a couple of questions before you upload a photo:
Take advantage of existing privacy settings in AIM Mail and Instant Messenger to control who can and cannot communicate with you. You can also use AIM Pages Settings to remove yourself from AIM Pages People Galleries.
Keep all passwords to yourself. Don't give out any of your passwords. And, remember, always make your password hard to guess. AOL and AIM will never ask you for your password.
Keep in mind that AIM Pages are for users 13 years of age or older. If you see someone you believe to be under the age of 13 participating in AIM Pages, please let us know by going directly to their profile, and clicking "Report This" in the upper righthand corner of the page.
We want AIM Pages to be a fun interactive place for you to express yourself and meet new people online. Please follow these tips to ensure your utmost safety when participating in AIM Pages.
The AIM Pages Team
AIM Pages is a fun and easy place to represent your style and connect with friends. Please remember, thousands of users access AIM Pages every day.
People online may not be who they say they are, and everything you read online may not be true.
Just because someone is nice to you online does not mean he or she is a nice person in real life.
Only add buddies to your AIM Page that are people you know in real life.
Be careful of compromising or identifiable elements in photos you might post. A school logo, an address or some other item in the picture could give away information about you that you do not necessarily want to be public.
Never reveal your full name, home address, telephone number, school, place of work or any other identifying information that might allow you to be located offline unintentionally.
Never agree to go anywhere or meet an online friend in person.
Never put anything on your AIM Page that might embarrass you or cause a future college or employer to think twice about you.
Think about what you are posting. If it's hurtful, harmful or hateful, it could violate the AIM Pages User Guidelines.
Teens today love social networking. AIM Pages is a fun and easy place for kids to connect with their friends and express themselves.
As a parent, please consider some of the following aspects of social networking and how they might help your children make safe decisions about using AIM Pages.
Talk to your kids about the social networking sites they may be utilizing. You might want to ask why they are using the sites, how they communicate with others and how they represent themselves on AIM Pages.
AIM Pages is for users 13 and older. We take extra precautions to help protect teens under 18 and are not able to do so if they represent themselves as adults. AOL will delete AIM Pages that have been created by someone younger than 13 who is misrepresenting his or her age.
Advise your teens to keep you informed when they add a new buddy. New buddies should be someone they know in real life.
Anonymity is a crucial part of online safety for teens. Teens should never use their full name, home address, telephone number, school, place of work or any other identifying information that might allow them to be located offline.
To teens, photos are a method of expressing themselves. Photos on the internet can be shared and may literally exist for years after you've deleted your copies of them. The following questions may be useful in talking to your teen about whether or not a specific photo should be uploaded: