Mandoza kicks off MXit Celebrity Chat Weekend

Mandoza will go live on MXit on the 11th of August for two 45-minute sessions between 7 and 9pm, talking about his new, self-titled album, upcoming performances, his personal thoughts and sentiments on issues ranging from home grown music to spiritual development but most importantly, he will be discussing online safety.

This is MXit's first Celebrity Chat Weekend which gives young people all over South Africa a chance to chat to their favourite stars, a chance that many teens only dream of, especially those living in remote areas. Aside from the fun, MXit will be involving local celebrities to reinforce the message of being safe and responsible online.

“I love using new technology, it's how music spreads, it's how I can reach out to more and more people. MXit is a cheap, easy way to chat to friends, or make new friends. People need to learn that they must be careful, and stay safe when online,” says Mandoza. “The DynamicZones in MXit give users private areas, and while age restrictions and moderators make for safer online chatting - young people must think constantly about what they are doing. If they are having fun but are safe and responsible then that's all that matters. As a role model to many, that's what my message to the MXit community will be this weekend.”

MXit introduced Dynamic Zones several months ago for MXit users to have a more fun-filled, yet worthwhile online experience. The Dynamic Zones allow private, password protected chat rooms, MXit users can also report inappropriate behaviour by others to MXit moderators.

Even with these technology features to improve safety on MXit, there is a real need for the Mxit community to still take steps to safeguard themselves – not sharing personal information, not meeting strangers alone, looking out for their friends.

MXit's Top 14 Online Security Measures:

1. A MXit user's identity remains anonymous when he/she is in a dynamic chat zone.
2. Upon registration users are prompted to log an authentic birth date.
3. Every time a MXit user enters a chat zone he/she is reminded to keep all personal details private.
4. A MXit user is able to create his/ her own private chat room. A user is able to create his/ her own topic for the room as well as set a password for entrance. Only those in possession of the password can enter the room.
5. MXit Chat zones are public and private spaces so whatever you say there can be seen by every other MXit user in that chat room.
6. MXit users can leave chat rooms at anytime or simply type the “.ignore” command to ignore someone who is behaving inappropriately.
7. All MXit chat zones are subjected to random monitoring by MXit moderators (called MXit_Magis) to identify and stop inappropriate behaviour.
8. All chat zones are moderated during peak times and up to 14 hours per day.
9. All chat zones contain profanity filters that replace swear words with the # symbol.
10. MXit does not store your user profile, e.g. personal details, photographs, etc.
11. Mxit actively discourages any form of discrimination and/or explicit sexual chat or sexual naming of chatrooms.
12. MXit users are encouraged to report any abuse they may have experienced on MXit. This can be done through the website: www.mxit.com. Alternatively, users can report offensive behaviour by using the “.rat” command and a moderator will intercept within 6 to 12 hours of reporting. Based upon the validity of the report, the abuser can be suspended from the chat zone or possibly banned.
13. MXit safe chatting tips are on the MXit website, the MXit forum as well as the mobile phone application (send safe to Info) and users are reminded to view them.
14. .request allows users to converse directly to MXit developers, technicians as well as the moderating team should they have wish to suggest technical or moderation changes.