Let me start by saying I am absolutely sure there are pedophiles on facebook. It's a law of averages. Even if 0.0001% of the population is pedophiles (though I hope it's even less than that), there are so many people on facebook that the numbers dictate there are bound to be a few pedophiles on there. That, combined with the fact that pedophiles frequently use social media to locate and "groom" their victims (though it seems more common on MySpace), and you've got a pretty solid guarantee that their are a few lurking around the social network.
However, that doesn't mean that joining a group or including yourself in a trend is being somehow used by pedophiles to gain access to your kid, whether through your pictures or their accounts. Mainly because it's too much effort.
The internet is a realm of instant accessibility and feedback. The image I used for this article is on the first page if you Google image search for "pretty little girl". In researching this article, I've also possibly ended myself up on some FBI watch lists (if I wasn't there already). Hey feebies, it's just for an article, promise.
But my point is, pedophiles don't need to jump through a bunch of elaborate hoops on facebook to get pictures of kids. If they're on facebook, they already have the whole internet right there. They could even find child pornography if they wanted it. The b/ board on 4Chan is notorious for being full of pedophiles.
If you want to keep your kid safe online, the answer is simple, but the execution is not: be involved. Know what they're posting, and who they're talking to.
And please stop flooding my facebook feed with alarmist urban myths.
