<p>I have two kids away at college and one great thing about Facebook is that both colleges have Facebook pages which are very helpful for information about what is going on (Parents weekends, sports events etc…) at school and reminders for when different things are due (tuition payments, housing applications, etc…).</p>
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<p>This made me LOL!!</p>
<p>I’ve used fb to get in touch with h.s. classmates from 40 yr ago, and have found cousins I never even knew i had, through it. Now the extended family uses it to exchange photos of the kids, parties, etc. And old classmates are sharing photos of the grandkids, et al.</p>
<p>My D friended me almost as soon as I opened the account. We have a semi-agreement that I will not post often on her page, only for things where she would expect me to say something. When she goes to college I suppose I will be like some of my cousins are with their kids, and use it to offer encouragement, say Happy Whatever, and other casual messages, or send jokes. </p>
<p>I do use it to send private messages to friends and others, and I suppose I’ll be doing that with her, too. And I fully expect to make use of the fb pages of whatever school she attends, for news from the school.</p>
<p>I didn’t bother to friend request my kids (both in college). I knew they would ignore it. Not that we aren’t close or that they have stuff to hide, just that they feel entitled to have a private life outside of their mother’s view. </p>
<p>BUT… after a few little jabs where I mentioned to my D other people who had friended their parents, and a few pictures I had posted that “she could see if she friended me,” she voluntarily Friended me herself. BUT she’s got it set up so that I can only see what she wants me to see. I can see her posts/statuses, but not what her friends write on her wall. I can see her old photo albums and her profile pics, but she made her current photo album from college private from me (before Christmas she set up another album with pictures from a few events at college that she wanted me to see). She’s actually shown me quite a few of the pics from the private album when she was home at Christmas, and frankly she has a habit of leaving her FB up on her laptop when she’s home so I’ve actually peeked at all the photos - there’s nothing awful. </p>
<p>She told me that some of her friends - especially the guys - use language she knows I wouldn’t approve of when writing on walls. She doesn’t want me to think less of them, so she made it so I couldn’t see it. </p>
<p>My S still won’t friend me… but D is friends with him so she tags him when I post family pictures! ;)</p>
<p>My daughters really dislike it when adult friends and relatives FB them. I don’t blame them. Personally, I have no desire to be on it, given all the recent news about security breaches and all. I’ll have my own professional webpage soon, and that’s all I’ll need, along with personal email. I don’t criticize other adults who do have their own FB page; that’s their choice, but I can definitely understand my Ds’ discomfort.</p>
<p>Also, my daughters ask me about people claiming to be relatives on FB and asking for intrusive personal information – about them, about me, etc. (And soliciting photos!) Luckily, I’ve been able to steer them clear of that. I know by name every legitimate relative, on both sides. Don’t recognize the name? There’s no reason to respond, and certainly not to send photos.</p>