<p>OK so I get it that some kids might not want their parents to ‘friend’ them- privacy, boundaries, etc. How many parents out there have a facebook page? and what is your feeling on ‘friending’ ? I have been putting off getting one but maybe i can do this with my age group. More and more of my age friends (50’s and up) have them and i feel i would enjoy it. Also, how does one respond if someone wants to ‘friend’ you and you do not want to?</p>
<p>I have a facebook page and am friends with my kids and even a few of their friends…but only because they have asked to friend me…I would not dream of asking one of my kids friends to friend me…If it has happened that someone wanted to friend me that I did not want…I would either friend them but put them on limited profile or just ignore the friend request…I am old enough that they will think I don’t check my page often or that I don’t know what I’m doing.</p>
<p>Google+ is better and it is not stolen property like facebook.</p>
<p>Hi rockymtn … I am in my upper 40’s and nearly all of my close friends use facebook now, and I do, too. No, my senior S doesn’t friend me, but I’m still a friend of my D in college. I’m also ‘friends’ with my sisters that live in other states, and my relatives as well. The nice thing about facebook with your lady friends is you can send a message to 4 of them (or more) at once to plan a dinner out, and they can all see each others responses so everyone is in sync. If you’re really crazy, you can set up an ‘event’ but that’s a phase 2 skill. Mostly, for now, you just accept friends if you want them, and you can ignore those that friend you, and you’re not quite ready to accept. If you accept a friend and they flood you with updates, then you can still be ‘friends’ but then hide their chatter so your news reel doesn’t get stuffed with trivial status.</p>
<p>Good luck … next year it’s Twitter for you!</p>
<p>I have had a facebook page since well before my kids did: back when you had to have an .edu email address to even sign up (I think back in 2006.) Since both D’s were 13 when they got their FB’s & I was already on, they “had” to friend me and it’s never been an issue. I won’t friend a kid, but if they ask me to be their friend I generally will agree. </p>
<p>If someone wants to friend me & I don’t want to, then I just ignore. It doesn’t happen often, and if I thought it might be awkward to ignore, I’d accept and then clamp down their access to my page.</p>
<p>I am in my late 40s, and have been on FB actively for a couple of years. I love it! I don’t live near where I grew up or went to college, and it has been a great way to keep up with friends and relatives all over the country (heck, all over the world). And link up with old friends I have not seen in years. </p>
<p>The only friend requests I have ignored have been from my horrible boss (she sent it while I worked for her, and when she asked about it I said I’d prefer not to until we didn’t work together – now we don’t, she has not sent it again). And also an old high school boyfriend whom I can tell has not grown up one iota based on posts he makes on other friend’s walls. And I unfriended a couple of people whose political posts were just too offensive and continuous for me (but they may not have noticed, they would have to look for me on their friends list to realize it). I get some friend requests from high school people I barely remember, and I usually accept them. No harm, I figure.</p>
<p>Oh, and I am friends with both of my kids, and D’s boyfriend. If one of their friends “friended” me, I would accept. But I don’t go asking them. </p>
<p>Facebook will suggest friends for you. It keeps suggesting my ex-H because we have so many mutual friends. As if…</p>
<p>I’m on facebook but rarely use it. My sister posts updates on hers all day long. It just depends on your interests and if your good friends actually use it. </p>
<p>I personally don’t get it. I get tons of friend requests from people I barely knew in high school. Usually I accept, but I never hear a word from them, not even when they first make the request! What’s the point?</p>
<p>I have an account, but I don’t post very often. I sometimes feel a little guilty, like I am some kind of voyeur who glimpses other people’s lives but offers little of my own. </p>
<p>What has been fun is that I have connected with some people with whom I lost touch AND there is also a FB group for CC that makes it possible to “meet” some of our CC friends - and I must say, we are a VERY attractive bunch :)</p>
<p>We’ve had some extensive threads here on the cafe regarding facebook in the last year or 18 months. Do a search. Some good information and thoughts.</p>
<p>I love facebook and value the friendships I have found and renewed there.</p>
<p>I have had it for a long time and definitely enjoy using it. It is fun to post photos and get a myriad of responses from different connections around the world. I adjust my privacy settings frequently (since they make unknown changes), but also never write or post anything I wouldn’t mind the world seeing, just in case. </p>
<p>It has also been a great way to get reconnected with lost friends (who I now have real life in person relationships with), and to maintain connections with people I’d otherwise know nothing about. On a daily basis I see the deligthful but trivial comings and goings of a large extended family around the world and we didn’t know of each other before facebook. It’s been wonderful.</p>
<p>I have friends who ‘don’t get it’ but I think it’s one of those things that you can’t judge until you actually use it. By using it I don’t mean just signing up and friending people or thinking about how others must use it. I mean reading your wall and others, making comments, posting things, seeing what others have posted. Actually doing the social interaction that it facilitates. If after actually being engaged in the social interaction, you might decide it’s still not for you, but I think it’s the only way to appreciate and fairly judge ‘the point of it’. </p>
<p>To me it doesn’t replace other forms of social interaction (except maybe email), nor does it take any real time out of my day (unlike CC!), but it’s entirely “in addition to” other nice things in my life. </p>
<p>BTW, my kids and students say they use FB over email to communicate with friends (and only email with ‘old people’). I find now I use FB quite a bit to communicate with others when in the past I would have used email.</p>
<p>Yes, My S made me get an account when he was in high school. I started it mainly as a way to get glimpes of his life while he’s at college. Now that my older D is on, I keep on eye on what she posts since her common sense isn’t always the best.</p>
<p>I find my college aged s and his friennds use it a lot less these days, and it’s more the younger kids like my D, and the middle aged, like me. </p>
<p>I have connected with people from high school that I haven’t heard from in 30 years. I am friends with the other moms in my D’s dance company (Not Dance Moms 
) and we share info and post pics. It’s nice to see vacation pics and milestones. I don’t really post that much myself.</p>
<p>Just about 50 here…I’ve been on it a couple of years. DD is a college jr. I am her friend and several of her friend’s fb friend. DS was on it and I was not his fb friend. He recently decided on his own to get rid of his account. One of his “big bosses” went on a rant in general about fb and he decided that at his stage in life (young professional) fb wasn’t necessary or a good idea
I don’t post too often as I don’t really think my life is that interesting. I stay on it because I work in an industry where it is used for invites to events, etc.<br>
I envison the day when it will outlive it’s usefulness for me just as it did with my son.
In general if you are going to get on it, I would be circumspect about whether you “friend” college kids and remember that when you look at someone’s profile they know you looked.</p>
<p>Have had an account for years. I never friend young 'uns unless they friend me first. Then I’ll accept their friend requests. One D wanted to be my friend right away. The other D didn’t friend me for about 3 years and then asked to be my friend. I had to call her right away and ask if her friends had hacked her FB account.</p>
<p>Three crowds in my life use FB a lot.</p>
<p>My church lady friends all have accounts and post photos. I love to look at photos of them on vacation and of their grandchildren.</p>
<p>My high school class has a Group Page. We’re informed about deaths, marriages, etc. The page has really helped our high school class reconnect. Had over 200 people at our high school reunion this past year…a record. I like to look at photos of my old classmates and their spouses.</p>
<p>Many of the younger generation of family (nephews, nieces) use FB a lot. I like to see photos of their kids as they are growing up. We don’t really see them much in person. The younger generation also seems to blog–but I find a lot of the blogging material downright dull.</p>
<p>So FB is a nice part of my life.</p>
<p>* would be circumspect about whether you “friend” college kids and remember that when you look at someone’s profile they know you looked.*</p>
<p>[Facebook</a> Scam: ‘See Who Has Viewed Your Profile’ | News & Opinion | PCMag.com](<a href=“http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2373572,00.asp]Facebook”>Facebook Scam: 'See Who Has Viewed Your Profile' | PCMag)</p>
<p>Glad to see SnowflakeVT also has a S who will not friend her. I’m in the same boat-- college senior D is a FB friend but my college freshman S is NOT! I cannot even get a glimpse of his home page. It’s as if he doesn’t even exist…</p>
<p>I am 51 and apparently many folks I know have a facebook page. I don’t want to take the time to maintain a page but I want to make it reasonably easy for someone to find me if they are looking. Is it possible to just put up a page and say “I don’t maintain this page…if you want to get hold of me send an email to <a href="mailto:rhumbob@xx.com”>rhumbob@xx.com</a>"</p>
<p>or is there a reason to not put an email on facebook?</p>
<p>rhumbob, I wouldn’t post an email address where anyone can see it, but you could have the option for people to message you. A message notification would then go to your email account. (I think you now have to choose this option, fb made email notification opt in rather than opt out)</p>
<p>Believe me- with all the personal public info that is available- if someone wants to find you they can- you don’t have to have a Facebook page.</p>
<p>I’ve had a FB account for a while and had it before my kids! One is on and friends with me the other no longer has an acct. I’ve friended her friends and had them friend me as well. I don’t often post to D’s friends walls unless I know they are open to conversing with me but will occasionally send those friends a private message. I don’t get all stressed and worry about the whole thing. If they want to be friends great, if not that’s fine too. I have had people send me a friend request who I don’t remember and no longer accept such requests. I do find it’s a nice way to reconnect with new & old friends, nieces, nephews, and family from all over.</p>
<p>I have one. I love it. It is a great way to keep in contact with far flung friends and family. My brother is in England, one of my best friends is now in Australia, other friends are spread across the US and other parts of the world. We are in touch in other ways, but I really enjoy facebook for being involved in the day to day minutiae I would otherwise not know about, seeing photos, stuff like that.</p>
<p>I initially started mine at my brother’s suggestion. I did not friend my (adult) kids. I didn’t even tell them I had one as I did not want them to feel obliged to (and they were not the reason I set it up). They eventually friended me. My daughter after several of her friends friended me. My son when he moved 1300 miles away for a new job. </p>
<p>I really enjoy it. Wish my elderly Mum could cope with learning to use a computer. Living thousands of miles apart, it would be a lovely way for her to keep up with the day to day lives of the kids (and me).</p>