Our colleagues at the Identity Theft Center study how people use the Web and social media to help everybody figure out how to avoid identity theft and other exploitation (they also provide free victim support). They have a new, very short survey they'd love parents of social media users to take if you have a minute (it'll actually take less than a minute).

The Center's last survey found a number of contradictions and a need for more user ID-protection ed but not much bad news social networking's concerned. For example…

* Facebook users "still tend to believe that financial harm cannot be caused by Facebook usage."
* Although "a large number of those surveyed had been the target of identity theft while using FB – only a small number had actually experienced identity theft as a consequence."
* "38% of those surveyed reporting that they were only a little concerned about their Facebook account being taken over"; 34% reported being somewhat concerned; and 27% reported being very concerned.
* "Although users did not seem to make a direct correlation between Facebook usage and financial identity theft, the majority of them did have unique passwords different from their online financial accounts [which is smart], and most were careful to limit the amount of information they presented to the public."

As a thank you to survey takers, the ITRC will be giving away $100 prizes to five respondents who complete the survey. Winners will be announced on June 1.