Natalie Natalie says she has left Formspring because of bullying
Anti-bullying charities say they are worried about anonymous messaging facilities on the social networking site Formspring.
Formspring works by allowing users to post questions to each other.
This can be done using your name or you can chose to do it anonymously.
Richard Piggins from Beatbullying said: "People use the hidden identity function to write nasty things. They're anonymous so they act more viciously than they would normally."
Continue reading the main story
[We are] working with MIT to implement high-tech bullying detection technology using natural language processing and artificial intelligence
Formspring statement
Formspring say they are "proactively increasing users safety and security since they launched back in 2009" and are "working with MIT to implement high-tech bullying detection technology using natural language processing and artificial intelligence".
Richard Piggins says many people have contacted them about the site.
He said: "We've had a lot of young people talking to us about the problems they've experienced and the concerns they have about Formspring."
Natalie is 15 and is one of those young people who have had problems.
At first, she thought it was a great idea.
She said: "I thought, 'It would be cool, a new thing, why not go on it?' It looked really cool.
"It was like join today, then people ask you questions. I was like, 'Oh my god yes, people are going to ask me questions, get to know me. How exciting.'
Abuse
"It turned bad," she admitted. "I started getting hate, people were telling me to go kill myself, that I was ugly, fat, everybody hated me and was better off without me."
Natalie's now left the site because she didn't like the kind of messages she was getting.
Continue reading the main story
I think the problem with Formspring is that there's no recourse for the victim
Peter Bradley Kidscape
"I get more abuse in person, so I was kind of used to it," she said. "I was just like, 'Oh my gosh. It's happening at home, I can't escape.
"I go to school I get abuse, I come home, I get abuse. What do I do? Where do I go?' I don't feel safe anywhere."
Formspring say you can stop people from messaging you anonymously by turning up the privacy on your profile.
Peter Bradley is from Kidscape and says he's not happy about the site.
"I think the problem with Formspring is that there's no recourse for the victim to come back," he said.
"If the owners of Formspring are unable to prevent malicious and harmful content then they need to urgently review how best to protect their users.
"They have a responsibility to protect their users."
R4i
airblade
