<p>Considering doing a Facebook page-don’t know much about it .What is there for me ,a middle aged mom ,that I might enjoy?</p>
<p>I like it. I’m pretty selective about whose friend request I accept. I rarely do the outreach. Been on there for years and only have about 100. I like keeping up with my old co-workers and friends from HS and college and seeing pics of my current friends’ kids. I don’t do any of the games, I don’t “like” a lot of pages, etc. The only annoying thing I find is that people msg me through there when I wish they’d just use my e-mail address.</p>
<p>this middle age mom refuses to join Facebook…it’s kind of getting funny already when people ask me,“why aren’t you on Facebook?”…my response is that if you are my “friend” in real life, you know that you are and I speak to you and see you in person…</p>
<p>maybe this article in today’s NYTimes magazine, expresses it best as to why I wouldn’t join Facebook:</p>
<p><a href=“Lives - A Brief Electronic Affair - The New York Times”>Lives - A Brief Electronic Affair - The New York Times;
<p>Plus can you imagine having time to be on CC and on Facebook? when would I sleep?</p>
<p>I like it but only log on about once a week!
Mostly friends and relatives are my FB friends.
I never post photographs or play any of their games.</p>
<p>I am a middle-aged mom on facebook. I love it! I keep up with friends (from high-school, college, the neighborhood, etc…) and family. I got to see my niece’s ultrasound, pictures of my cousin’s first grandchild, my other nieces in their prom dresses, etc… The colleges that my older two kids go to have parent sites and housing sites which post great information. My younger son’s high school is even on FB with updates about how various sports teams are doing etc… My mom and in-laws are on FB as well.</p>
<p>I thought this would be a great way to find people from my past ,because I now have time to be curious ,recently having emptied the nest .NOT LOOKING TO FLIRT WITH OLD BEAUS ,LIKE IN THE TIMES ARTICLE.</p>
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<p>Certainly and it’s the savoir of DD and DW straining relations. DW found a new life in FB, was able to get connected to her school, college, university mates after 20/30 years. DD got relief from DW anxiety about her well being. From the pressing need to move to Boston to not visiting her during the 3rd semester DW have come a long way. </p>
<p>I love FB too as it gave me also chance to reconnect to lot’s of childhood friends and certainly now both DW and I have lots of free time too.</p>
<p>Problems begin when you find what you were not looking for. Then what?</p>
<p>I have a Facebook page and love it. I have re-connected with some friends from high school and college, but more importantly I stay in contact with my D who is in school half way across the country. I feel like I “know” her college friends even though I haven’t met them. Plus I connected with some of her college friends’ parents as well. And even a few of her high school sfriends “friended” me so I get to keep up with them tool. Learn to use the privacy controls and have fun.</p>
<p>I think that soon the youngsters will abandon it entirely and it will just be us middle-age folks on FB. I enjoy having it to catch up with friends across the country and find high school friends. It can be all-consuming or just a nice chance to say hi to those people in your life. For me, it allows me to comment about events without posting long diatribes in a blog. I also play a few games as stress relief. Amazingly, many friends of DS have “friended” me, so I feel very connected to my chil’s life. Just don’t get tipsy and start friending exes. Nothing good can come from that !</p>
<p>With no offense meant to the OP, I hate this question. Did people ask “are phones for grownups” back in the day? Is texting for grownups? Are apps and smartphones for grownups? Facebook is just a popular communication tool. It has its place. My MIL & FIL who are 70 are on FB. There is certainly no reason to self select out just because of your age. That doesn’t mean you’ll like or use it. </p>
<p>I’ve been on Facebook since back when it was still restricted to .edu email addresses, long before my kids were “old enough” to have a profile. I don’t know anyone in my line of work who doesn’t have a FB presence. I keep it open in the background most of the time while I’m online. Since we did a relo it’s been a great way for us to keep up with family & friends; now that D1 is in college it’s a good way to keep in touch without having to call.</p>
<p>Try it. If you don’t like it after awhile (give it a month or two) delete your account. Simple.</p>
<p>I’m there…but not really. I’m VERY restrictive with my privacy levels and selective on who I friend. I browse the status updates every few days, but rarely post any of my own or comment or like things. I’m still fuzzy on what is private and not (ie-when I got addresses from tons of people I didn’t know because a relative asked for addresses for her wedding invitations…that stuff makes me nervous). However, now that H showed me how to hide all the farmville posts and the updates by the friends (without unfriending them) who feel a need to tell everyone everything they do all day long it’s better. I am friends with my D (HS age) but S (college age) will not friend me. It is a good way to catch up with old friends, but I also hate it when people will only contact me thru FB - just send me an email or a text.</p>
<p>My grandmother joined a few months ago and is in love with it. She’s got all of her kids and her grandkids as friends on it as well as some of her coworkers and other friends as well. She loves to play the games on it and look at photos of her grandkids and great grandkids that get posted on there.</p>
<p>FYI: some stats about U.S. Facebook usage (Jan 2011 report from istrategy labs)
average user age in North America is just over 31
age 25-34: 33,171,080 users; 22.6% of members; 29.7% increase from 2010
age 35-54: 39,595,900 users; 29% of members; 32.3% increase from 2010</p>
<p>College age (18-24) comprises 30.9% of users but the older crowd is still a larger segment. So jump in and try it :)</p>
<p>My brother talked me into starting one when I was in England visiting a couple of summers ago as a way for him and I to keep in more frequent contact. I have been surprised to find I like it a lot. I have friends (actual friends, not I just met you yesterday so now you are listed as one of a gzillion friends on facebook) and family all over the world, from the 4 corners of the US to England, to the Netherlands to Australia. It is a great way to keep in touch with people I do not see on a regular basis (or ever for some of the more far flung friends). I wish it had existed 30 years ago! I have moved quite a bit and lost touch with a couple of people.</p>
<p>I also have more geographically close friends on my facebook. They are people who I am in contact with in the more traditional ways. But i still enjoy their facebooks. </p>
<p>I left it up to my kids to friend me if they wanted to. My son would never friend me while he lived close by. After he moved 1000+ miles away for a new job he decided to friend me. We talk on the phone of course, but i still enjoy that additional layer of communication with him so far away. My daughter surprised me by friending me me soon after I started an account. She always said she never would.</p>
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<p>This describes me. I enjoy re-connecting with old friends but it’s usually a trade of 1-2 messages and that’s it. It’s fun to see pictures of people you haven’t seen in ages. I occasionally comment on someone’s post or picture. Never play the games or ‘like’ anything. I generally ignore most requests other than friend requests. One thing creepy is I occasionally get friend request from people I don’t know.</p>
<p>In reality, I have about 6-10 friends who post all day long - really mundane stuff. Then I have friends who will only post things like travel pictures or pictures of themselves after getting their tummy tuck (no joke!) or pictures of the latest charity event they attended. To some degree, facebook is about ‘self-promotion’ and if you’re the type not to do that, it’s somewhat less appealing but it can be fun to reconnect with others. Go for it but keep your privacy levels high.</p>
<p>Yeh, I’m also very restrictive about privacy. I find most of my age group friends don’t have much to say- some basically tweet every day- do I really need to know that they went to the gym or cleaned out the garage???
BUT, I’m on it to keep track of my kids! Ha. Kids have no concept of what they’re revealing and how far and wide it spreads- eg, a status about last night’s crazy partying goes to all on their friends list. Including great aunt Mabel. A blurb about staying up late tonight because that paper is due tomorrow am and they haven’t started…</p>
<p>My kids like that I can see their photos. I don’t like all their photos.
They like that, when they mention a new friend (usu of the opp sex,) they can direct me to that FB page for a look-see.</p>
<p>I’m on FB and it’s been really enjoyable. My high school class has a very active group on FB. It’s been fun to connect and re-connect with people. Also, the younger generation of nieces and nephews are mostly married and having children. It’s fun to see the photos that they post.</p>
<p>I am a middle aged mom, and really like FB. I don’t live in my hometown (where I lived until I went to college), and I also do not live in the state where I went to college. So I have loved getting a more regular link with people from those times and places. And even some old friends locally that I have fallen out of touch with. I have about 60 friends (had 61 until this morning, quietly unfriended someone who has been posting very annoying political rants on the FB page). So that is one piece of advice I would give, don’t post political stuff. You are sure to annoy some friends (who likely won’t feel so “friendly” toward you afterwards).</p>