<p>I have been a ‘friend’ to both of my kid’s on FB for almost two years now. There have been a total of three times I’ve asked them to rethink what they posted online and once where I put my foot down and said it’s inappropriate and you have to remove it. ONCE in almost 700+ days. </p>
<p>My kids friends know that I’m there because most of them sent me FB friend requests not the other way around. Early on when I first joined, I did send a few requests to my then Junior in HS son’s friends but told them if they were uncomfortable with the idea that I would be 100% ok with and understand their choice. NONE of them denied my request. Probably because I had taken the time to get to know them before I tried to friend them on FB. FWIW, many, if not most, of my sons friends parents are on FB and are friends with their kids. </p>
<p>If my kids do post differently it’s because they are aware that posting their phone number or personal info is dangerous. YEAH! My being there helped them avoid a bad situation later on.</p>
<p>Well, my kids are aware that posting phone numbers and personal information is dangerous and they don’t do it and they didn’t need to be my FB friend to understand the importance of that.</p>
<p>This ties into the topic you brought up of “monitoring” your kids’ FB use. You say you have moved on but really, this comment about having to be FB friends with your kids in order to keep them safe is about monitoring. </p>
<p>Many of us have kids in college or beyond and have taught our young adult offspring to never post personal information on FB and don’t have to be their FB pal or monitor them on FB to make sure that lesson was taken seriously.</p>
<p>This is nothing to be proud about. Once is too much, especially if you’re telling an 18 year-old what they “have to do.”</p>
<p>About the comment somebody made about clients basing judgments of a company on an employee’s Facebook page - if a client is making judgments of a company based on such a trivial issue, especially something like a “goofy” photo, then that client must not have that much invested in the company anyway. I would think that one of the most important parts of being “professional” is knowing where to draw the boundaries between corporate life and personal life. If it is inappropriate to bring elements of your personal life into the workplace, then shouldn’t it also be inappropriate for people to hold someone’s personal life to professional standards?</p>
<p>I wonder if clients like that know that, every now and then, employees of companies sit on a toilet and - well, the rest is just too disgusting to say. How could they ASSOCIATE with such people?</p>
<p>Thanks for the judgment but I told both kids when under 16. One was still 13 at the time I asked him to remove a rap song off his page. I hate rap but the song was particularly offensive and it takes a great deal to offend me. The other had his cell number on his page because he’s a musician and was the band contact. I informed him of the risks but he decided to leave his number on their page. My concerns were for not… However, I pay the cell phone bill so I felt it was up to me to inform him of the boundaries regarding publishing his cell number on FB or elsewhere on the net.</p>
<p>I am only FB friends with my two children who are college grads & considered adults now.
The other two are in college & we are not FB friends & I certainly don’t want to be “friends” with them. I joined so I could connect with cousins & people I went to school with basically. With a 40 year high school reunion coming up it is amazing how many classmates I have reconnected with!</p>
<p>I didn’t read the entire thread but did anyone see the South Park episode recently about Facebook. Part of it made fun of one the the characters not friending their relative. Priceless!</p>