<p>I have FB and enjoy it; I just wish more of my friends would join. I think it’s a convenient way to keep up with what’s going on with people. 2 of our 3 kids have let me be their friends. S2, the new college freshman, will not, but the other 2 have said they’d let me know if they see anything I’d find interesting, but not if they see anything that would upset me!</p>
<p>My husband joined facebook to play scrabulous with an old friend, and when my daughter saw it she friended him, and they played for awhile until was taken off. He will check her status every few days and will sometimes leave something on her wall. She likes communicating this way, apparently, and since she scrubbed her profile once she started job hunting, there’s nothing there she would care if he saw, I’m sure.<br>
My son joined facebook in college after being hounded by his friends to do so, but he never uses it. I don’t think he’s added anything for two years. Apparently, that’s fairly common with boys. I guess I’m the only one in the family without a facebook account!</p>
<p>I don’t think it is a good idea for adults to “befriend” younger people. I have a FB acct, but I am not friends with my daughter. I have told my older daughter not to accept adults friends, even if they are family and friends. It is too much information to share. They shouldn’t have to explain themselves to us. I have looked at my daughter’s FB acct because she left it open. I was happy there wasn’t anything too sketchy (except a pole dancing picture), but I don’t think I need to share certain part of her life. I have also told her to limit her younger cousins access to her FB. It’s just my opinion.</p>
<p>Good post, Oldfort. I agree. I had a younger friend “friend” me on facebook recently, and I left it hanging for a bit while I decided whether I thought she was old enough for me to accept the friend request. My facebook account is geared toward my friends; I don’t want my parents or younger teens looking at it in the same way I don’t want those people listening to my conversations with my friends. (I did end up accepting the friend request. She’s a high school senior, but I hadn’t seen her since she was quite a bit younger.)</p>
<p>I have a Facebook; I was invited by a college alum who wanted to organize a group for an event. I now have 10 friends; mostly people I knew in high school and college, and my husband’s cousin. I thought it was a good idea to join so I could find out how it works, since both my kids have one. I now understand the privacy settings, what a bumper sticker is, etc. Both my kids (hs & college) told me under NO circumstances would they agree to “friend” me! And I wouldn’t request any of their friends either; but if they requested me I’d accept (I know they won’t, though). I did request my cousin’s daughter; she’s 26, out of college and working, so I figured she’s an adult. She accepted. I loved her album with pictures of her family on vacation. I wish her mom would get a facebook… That’s the best part about it for me, seeing photos of distant friends & relatives. </p>
<p>It bugs me though that some people apparently don’t get the difference between a Facebook status and an away message. I don’t need to log on and see that “Jane is getting ready to make breakfast!” and Kim is “watching football.” TMI.</p>
<p>When I find bumperstickers that I wish I could send to my kids, I copy and paste them into an email. The other day my daughter was asking me where to find a particular bumpersticker I emailed her, she loved it!</p>
<p>I’m on Facebook, mainly to stay in touch with D1 while she’s at school(she “friended” me, but D2, who’s a HS junior, will not, although she and I "messaged"on FB while she was away this summer). It works out well, because D1’s cell phone is usually off, and she checks FB more than her email. If anything, I wish that more of my adult friends were on it.</p>
<p>I told my 14 year old that someone I knew got a FB account and he informed me that I do not “have his blessing” to be on Facebook. He said it with good humor but I can take a hint. I think it strikes him the way it strikes some people when older women dress like they are still 18.</p>
<p>I joined Facebook a few years ago. My D and I went round and round about social networking sites - because my profession is data cop related and I am by nature, very curious and a bit conservative. They were new and unknown territory.</p>
<p>I honestly think she joined My Space when it was about 2 days old, so I was very in the dark about it. Because I was so on top of her internet wanderings, I knew right away.</p>
<p>I forbid MySpace, and had her account removed because she was under 14. Many of her friends joined, unbeknownst to parents and posted lots of inappropriate things. I always loved hearing parents say “oh my d does not use FB or MS” I would just roll my eyes. I frequently found that it was the families that had unsupervised wireless access whose kids were simply doing as they pleased with the new digital cameras and camera cell phones they received as gifts.</p>
<p>The forbidding only worked for so long. I soon realized that this was the way they were going to communicate, period. The compromise that was reached was that if she wanted to join FB (which I like better because of the default of privacy) I had to be her friend. Her friends had stopped using MySpace anyway, so that was not an issue.</p>
<p>Now that she is older, and has excercised great care with her online reputation - and she clearly understands what is appropriate for posting and what is not - I am ready to let go.</p>
<p>However, after being the ‘lone ranger’ on FB for so long, strangely in the last 6 months, at least a dozen people have found and friended me (most find you through an email search tool, some find you because they are good at searching). High school friends, family members - even my European pen pal who I had lost my connection with 20 years ago. So, now that I am having fun and using it to keep up with people and share photos and other info, I am not going to stop using it. I may tell me daughter she should just limit my access to her page. I do REALLY like to see the photos that she and her friends post.</p>
<p>I think the kids go through a maturity evolution with their computer use, and the earlier they start, the more important it is to monitor.</p>
<p>It’s like anything else we do with our kids…when they are young, we have to keep a watchful eye on them, as they get older, we can loosen up. One of the books I read described the progression as the “V” in the word “LOVE” - you start at the bottom of the V as two people, and you each progress up each side to the top and gradually separate.</p>
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I agree. I think it’s reasonable to require that a child’s Facebook or MySpace be open to you until a certain age (say, 16?).</p>
<p>Just an aside…my D met her husband on MySpace (she was 21 at the time). This was <em>not</em> a good idea, in my opinion, but they’ve been married a year and a half and he’s a really nice guy and they are blissfully happy. So…go figure!</p>
<p>“This was <em>not</em> a good idea, in my opinion, but they’ve been married a year and a half and he’s a really nice guy and they are blissfully happy. So…go figure!”</p>
<p>How nice! I’m all for blissfully happy and hope they continue that way for a lifetime:)</p>
<p>Glad to hear I’m not the only adult who likes FB. Frankly, I wish more of my relatives and former classmates would join. It would be a nice way to keep in touch. I’m not on it to communicate with my kids or their friends, so I don’t feel like I’m “trying to dress like an 18 year old.” Although when I first joined I sort of felt that way, but now it seems to me like we old fogies need to get with the program and take advantage of this social networking software. Kind of like getting your kid to teach you to program the DVR…</p>
<p>I’m on facebook, but wouldn’t never dare put my real photo (have an anime). Son would kill me. I used to skim the profiles of kids he knows w/public profiles. Then it became depressing – all the girls were self-aggrandizing and self-involved, boys were posing as ‘cool’ and random. I’d like to keep my image of them all as well-mannered, intelligent kids, not profanity spewers, lol.</p>
<p>My co-workers seem to be enthralled with “Linked In”, which I find really boring compared to Facebook. I realize it is supposed to serve a different purpose, but still…</p>
<p>As I’m gearing up to re-enter the legal world, MOWC, I’ve been hearing lots about Linked-In and keep meaning to get on it. Seems to require a certain amount of energy & involvement that I don’t care to expend, though, lol.</p>
<p>Once you get signed up, it doesn’t take much effort. They let you know others you might want to “Link”- i.e. people from your company etc.</p>
<p>Thanks, MOWC. I guess I should do it if that’s the latest ‘thing’ (lethargy re: all the networking stuff, lol).</p>
<p>I joined recently with the urging of my cousin. Now ALL my extended family is on there, about 40 of us covering over 8000 miles. We are scanning and posting old photos, writing commentary, sharing news. </p>
<p>It is so wonderful to catch up with cousins I’ve not seen in 30 years. Or to have my aunt explain the people in my old dusty photo. To swap war stories, and show people photos of their parents or grandparents they have never seen. To share jokes about our 70s clothing, and what was Uncle so-and-so doing in that picture. My family is so big and spread out, some I never even knew of until now, and yet we can be sending little messages during the day to connect to one another. Now are are planning an in-person reunion.</p>
<p>I had NO interest in FB until now. For reconnecting with lost family, I can’t recommend it enough.</p>
<p>I also wanted to add that now I’ve gotten the hang of FB, and can see what I can do with it, I’m now going to use it for the classes I’ll teach. </p>
<p>I’ll create a group for each class and it will be a place I can upload my notes, the videos I use, and extra materials. A place the students can go to get the info they need for class. I think will work better for me than WebCT, Moodle or Blackboard in that regard.</p>
<p>I’m on Facebook, as well as my husband and daughter, and we’re all friends with each other. I’m friends with people I knew in high school, college and grad school; former coworkers; and with some of my daughter’s high school and college friends. I love it, and also wish that more of my close friends were on it. I love reading the status’ of the kids – they are so creative.</p>
<p>When FB first started it was college-age only, so it was understandable that kids didn’t want their parents on it. But that has totally changed. Most kids are realizing that FB is a place where all generations hang out – their parents, parents’ friends, friends’ parents, coworkers, bosses, professors, etc., are all on FB now. </p>
<p>My feeling is, if there is something on their wall or a photo of them that they don’t want their parents to see, then it shouldn’t be there. </p>
<p>Funny story: I ran into a former coworker and his 16-year-old daughter the other day, and when she learned I had a FB profile she said, “oh that’s so cool.” She’s been bugging her dad to get on. A few hours later I logged on, and she had friended me.</p>