Teen Networking

I was thinking about the differences between today's kids and those of earlier generations/ You know what may be the most telling change? It's their connection to the Internet social network sites. Yes, I know kids (and adults) are "connected too much- with their ipods, cell phones and other electronic mediums that allow them to escape from parents and other "enemies" to bind with peers. But the My Space and Facebook sites are the new meeting places for kids.
It used to be teens would meet face to face at an athletic field, the mall, the movies, a club etc. But know they go to their favorite social networking sites. From their postings there, If you can get to their profiles, you begin to get insight into their teen reasoning: "This kind of person is liked. The jocks are gods or outcasts. Pretty girls ignore smart guys and look for "older men"." And they gravitate to where they're accepted. not where they want to go.
On those social networking pages, kids can block parents or others from viewing their sites without their permission. So, I am not sure exactly e what goes on. As far as I know Jane doesn't have a profile, but she accesses MySpace and others, and knows more about social network sites than I do.
When today's we were kids, our social was about 50 people. But today's kids who go online it can range from a hundred to thousands. Some of those are fellow teenagers , some are not (No doubt a few sexual predators are in the mix as well) And the networks are not just of neighborhood or school friends, but of people from all over the world. They mirror adult preferences to explore everything. Problems begin when the network little Jimmy belongs to influences him badly. A bad network is similar to the old days when little Jimmy played with "the wrong crowd of trouble makers. But today, the parents are much less likely to know what little Jimmy is doing at the sites he belongs to (We don't even know if or what sites they are). Maybe the kids or other on line friends influence little Jimmy positively or maybe not. With millions of people to whom little Jimmy can connect there is greater opportunity for both fair and fowl associations. The kids think we are overly concerned or freaked out about this because they are too young and immature to understand that there are unseen risks the kids may not be able to handle.
I suppose this is the new reality for teens and that there is little parents can do about it. (Forget banning the sites. They will find them outside the home if you do). On the other hand, maybe there is as much good about them having a secret world of their own at these social networking sites, as the potential problems associated with them. In daily life, teenagers seem non talkative. But online, they'll reveal their souls, their vulnerabilities. With a click, they also look into other people's innermost thoughts. Kids say things online they might never say face to face. It gives then a forum to experiment and take risks.
One thing for sure, it is a reflection of just how hard it is to be a teenager, so much harder for them than the teens of previous generations. So I guess they are getting an earlier tryout in the ways of the world that the social networking sites provide for them. Any thoughts about this?