Gillian Nuttall (PR & Marketing Manager)

If I was in a panic I could just press it and all hell would break loose.   I had visions of it being like a scene from The Bill, police cars arriving from all over the place, burglars in stripey jumpers carrying swag bags and jumping over hedges.  

The reality was that it was only ever pressed twice, once by my daughter when she was a toddler (made her jump so much she only did it the once!)  and once by me, accidentally!   However, it did give me a bit of comfort knowing it worked and was loud enough to wake the neighbours and act as a deterrent to any passing Fagin characters.   

So, back to the whole issue surrounding social networking and in particular the use of the Panic Button on Facebook.  Tonight I am going to log onto Facebook and just for research purposes, I am going to “press that button”  (almost like a game show isn’t it?)    I know I sound very flippant, but I still fail to see how this panic button is going to deter anyone from wrongdoing on the internet and as for protecting innocent children, well my views on that are widely documented – it is parents who have to take responsibility for their children’s use of social networking sites.   30 years ago you would not have allowed your children to talk to just anyone, the internet should not make this any different.  A child has to be able to recognise that he/she is in a potentially dangerous situation and without the watchful eye of a responsible adult, they are just not going to know.   

As a forward thinking law firm Ralli is readily embracing the use of social media.  I think the majority of people here are using Linkedin.   It is noteworthy that the people behind Linkedin have not seen fit to install a panic button.  Why?   Because users of Linkedin are mostly grown ups who know how to get the best from social media and use Linkedin as a business/marketing tool.     We don’t allow just anyone to join our networks on Linkedin and as a general rule, if someone invites you to link up with them and you don’t know who they are, you would simply not accept their invitation.    

Is it time parents of small children started to take a bit more interest in what their children are doing in their spare time? Football is always a starting point.    

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTSvDGkqTeE