Looking for a safer way to use online classifieds? Consider buying, selling and giving away stuff to the people you know — or know something about – through your online social network.

The inherent framework of Facebook Marketplace and MySpace Classifieds provides an important safety filter because personal profiles are attached to each listing. This gives users a better understanding of who they’re dealing with.

Let’s say you are looking for a guitar. I found this listing on the Facebook Marketplace: http://tinyurl.com/cytouj. In addition to viewing the product details, I can see the seller’s profile and learn why he’s selling it, which, (for me), is just as valuable at seeing the product details. I can see how many friends we have in common, as well as post a question about the listing on the seller’s wall.

Because Facebook Marketplace, MySpace Classifieds, even the niche social network Military.com, are powered by Oodle, each and every listing is scanned through Oodle’s proprietary fraud detection software before entering the system. Any listing with suspicious content or behavior is removed before entering the Classifieds’ marketplace.

To learn more about safety and social classifieds, see Anne Collier’s article on NetFamilyNews.org: http://www.netfamilynews.org/2009_03_01_archive.html.