<p>Hey all,
I couldn’t find a similar thread, so I decided to start a new thread.</p>
<p>I was wondering why so many parents discourage their kids from using facebook or myspace.
I would really appreciate your replies.</p>
<p>The spelling?</p>
<p>I personally don’t care about my son’s using Facebook/Myspace. I’ve seen their <em>sites</em>, and while some of the stuff they have is a little profane, it’s typical edgy college stuff and I’m not going to make a deal about it. </p>
<p>Before someone beats me to the punch- I didn’t <em>spy</em> on my kids. Their friend was over one night and they were showing me stuff on his myspace, we were all cracking up, and then we went to my kids’ sites- they didn’t care at the time. That was the one time they showed me their myspaces, I haven’t seen them since.</p>
<p>Some of the sites I’ve seen are over the top. An old girlfriend and her friends had pics of themselves in bikinis, in bubble baths, drinking, etc. I don’t think I’d like that at all if I had a daughter and she was doing that.</p>
<p>facebook users are generally more mature and less annoying, from my experience.</p>
<p>some myspaces are just horribly tacky and in-your-face.</p>
<p>I think facebook is brilliant and I wish there was something similar for MY age group! However, there can be problems. A girl recently posted pictures of her friend topless at Bonnarroo- the parents were NOT happy… SOME discretion needs to be used, and discretion is not a common trait found in teens/20s.</p>
<p>Plain and simple (though none of my 3 kids has one) - too much info shared by many people. Too much time spent in front of a computer screen attending to the site and reading others stuff. I don’t like that it takes away from real face to face human interaction.</p>
<p>I’ll tell you one thing I LIKE about myspace/facebook…It brings kids from different <em>groups</em> together. My sons have all different types of people posting on their pages- the hs jocks, the nerds, the brainiacs, the artsy kids, the loners. Although the kids are not <em>anonymous</em>, it still seems to bring them out a little more and make them not so shy about approaching others.</p>
<p>On the other hand, during a regular hs day (face to face), you’ll see, more or less, jocks hanging with jocks, nerds with nerds, brainiacs with brainiacs…</p>
<p>actually I like the concept of facebook. I am green with evny seeing how my kids are able to maintain instant contact with their HS friends at different schools. When I graduated it was three or four years before I saw anybody I went to school with. Now both my kids are able to maintain old friendships and make new ones with ease. I think it’s a great idea.</p>
<p>Myspace, I’m not so familar with as it seems to be the place the peds and preditors go to hunt. I think they are two different services. I’m not enamoured with Mspace for that reason. Facebook usually starts out with friends and grows. Mspace I don’t think so?</p>
<p>did you know that companies now exist to use myspace/facebook as an investigative tool for hiring? Now then, take look at your boards, photos, etc. too much info can be a bad thing especially in todays transparent world of the internet . . .</p>
<p>I dislike MySpace. It’s loud with flashy obnoxious graphics. Kids who are much too young (10, 11, 12) are posting on there with no common sense, giving much too much information about themselves. </p>
<p>I think Facebook is brilliant, and I hope my friends discover it and start using it (much to their kids dismay, I’m sure). I like the many levels of privacy, the fact that you can’t see someone’s profile unless you are in their network or friends. I am a little concerned that some kids put too much information up.</p>
<p>I agree that some kids get addicted to facebook, and spend too much time on it. (Those of us addicted to CC shouldn’t talk, should we?)</p>
<p>If Facebook stays around for awhile, I think it will change the interaction among friends when they grow apart in distance – people won’t lose touch as easily. I’m sure people will use it for networking for jobs. It will make planning reunions much easier.</p>
<p>I know Facebook well; I’ve never used Myspace. Like any tool or resource, Facebook can be used appropriately or inappropriately. It’s been revised and improved to reduce features that can be misused - for instance, photos are now only visible to those who the user has already designated as friends. Used appropriately, it’s a remarkable resource which can break down groups based on stereotypes or classes, and lead to face-to-face interaction. There will never come a time in which it cannot be used with poor judgement to the detriment of the user, but the same can be said of most any activity.</p>
<p>sdavis, I’ve heard the same rumors about colleges checking facebook/myspace for prospective applicants.</p>
<p>My question is…to any admissions folks out there…is there truth to this?
If so, what are you looking for and how is it used?</p>
<p>For example, a kid applies to, say, Vanderbilt and writes this glowing essay about how Vanderbilt has everything he wants in a school. Then Vanderbilt finds his myspace and lo and behold, he’s a die-hard DUKE fan (Duke wallpaper, Duke links, Duke pictures, everything Duke). LOL! Guess who’s not getting an acceptance from Vandy? ;)</p>
<p>I doubt adcoms have the time to check out too many facebook/myspace sites. They may take a look if there is a red flag of some kind, but remember that a lot of the information on your page is private if you choose the right settings.<br>
I LOVE looking at my daughter’s facebook and the links to all her friends from high school and college. (WildChild won’t let me near his…)</p>
<p>Re: rumors about colleges checking facebook/myspace for prospective applicants - </p>
<p>I don’t know about the adcoms, but I know that at my college, there are several members of the reslife staff (RDs, directors, etc.) in addition to other faculty members (including some who are members of the honor board) that have accounts. I don’t think they use their accounts to patrol student activities, but if a student is going before the honor board for a write up or infraction, it isn’t unheard of for the board to print out facebook photos as evidence. I was sure to double and triple check that none of my photos were questionable before applying to become an RA.</p>
<p>Humorous note from a friend, their S had posted a comment that it was going to feel like 600 degrees in the ROTC uniforms. When he got there Instructor asked him - how hot is it? when he looked puzzled instructor asked - is it 600 degrees yet?</p>
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<p>Ditto here</p>
<p>I worry that people in general and kids in particular post way too much about themselves that can later come back to bite them. I know of a legal case stemming from a traffic accident (not yet gone to court) where the lawyer on one side pulled unflattering statements off the defendant’s Myspace page that will likely be used to show that she abused alchohol and is a general lowlife. </p>
<p>Those statements probably seemed like a bit of harmless, outrageous fun at the time - promoting a party girl image, but now…</p>
<p>I think both facebook and Myspace can be positive tools socially for kids if used wisely, with proper discretion and not excessively. I am perfectly Ok with the way my kid uses them. He is able to keep contact with so many kids he wouldn’t otherwise, meet new people from his college and keep communication going with friends. He has looked up kids he has met along the way from pre-school to camps to trips he has taken. He has reconnected with kids he’s lost contact with over the years. So, if used responsibly, I am all in favor of it. </p>
<p>As others have stated…I am jealous! I not only wish we had networks like this for us parents, but I would have loved having this type of thing when I was a teen. It would have been awesome!</p>
<p>Like I said, over the top pictures of yourself drinking, semi-dressed, etc. is pretty stupid. However, I can’t imagine a jury in the world that would look at a normal kind of “typical college student” reference to drinking and hang a kid because of it. Most jurors can discern the difference between someone who has a drink occasionally and someone who has a real drinking problem. This would be kind of like, “hey, you admitted to drinking last month. You must be guilty of drinking today!!”</p>
<p>As my kids use them, I have no issue with either one. That said, we’ve talked extensively about safe and productive use of these things, and none of my kids is computer addicted or spends excessive time online (unlike their mama 
). Their lives are <em>really</em> full of RL activities. :D</p>