Once upon a time there was a day
when Facebook was only for college students. Well, unfortunately that time is
long gone and surprisingly it’s not the prepubescent 12 year olds that are
ruining the scene, the adults are. Nothing is more awkward than having to
explain to your 60 year old grandma that the red cup has ‘apple juice in it’ or
making up excuses to your former high school teacher that saw you as the’
National Honor Roll Student of the century’ for those embarrassing statuses
your drunk friends put on your profile for the world to see when they hacked
you. I personally got so fed up one day with all the questioning that I deleted
all of my family members off of Facebook when I got to college. Was
Thanksgiving dinner awkward? Yes. But was it worth it? Yes.
The
truth is: Adults don’t need to know everything that’s going on in your life.
That’s why you’re in college, to learn, grow up, become independent, blah blah
blah all that boring stuff. So what they don’t know won’t kill them. And if
they need to find out weird things about you, a social networking site isn’t
the place, probably a face-to-face conversation would be more appropriate. So
whenever I get a friend request from an adult whom I really don’t want to be
friends with, I let it sit there forever and avoid eye contact with that person
at all costs.
Bottom
line: It’s time to cut the cord, and not the umbilical, that’s already shriveled
up and died. I’m talking about the internet. Just stick to the e-mails and
texts when it comes to family members, former teachers, or other adult figures
in your life. It will be best for both sides!
What are your thoughts on this? What do you do
when an unwanted adult adds you on Facebook? Or do you have any funny
experiences you’d like to share?-Zaquisha
I definitely agree. Luckily my family doesn't really use Facebook. If they did I would try to avoid becoming friends with them. I'd rather just have my family just ask me what I do in Madison, rather than letting them just sift through information on my Facebook. By the way this was a really good topic. The title instantly grabbed my attention, and I thought the apple juice line was really funny.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post. Its really funny because my grandma has said to me " Oh it looks like you are having a fun time at school... I can tell by your pictures and the cups in your hand!" My family is not oblivious as to what goes on at college; my parents went to college themselves and only expect some of the things that are displayed on Facebook. I am careful with which adults I friend or accept; however, I think having a younger audience ruined Facebook and I remember when it was a big deal to make my Facebook going into high school.
ReplyDeleteYour post really made me laugh. While I completely see your point of view, I had the opposite experience. When my mom "freinded" me on Facebook back when I was in high school, I was outraged. I tried to explain to her that Facebook was for students only, and that it was strange that she had an account. I continued to tell her that I would never accept her friend request. However, once I got to college, I found that I no longer cared that she was on Facebook or that she could see my wall and my photos. In fact, I sent her a friend request. Facebook is a nice way to keep in touch. Also, I can put her on limited profile if I want to. :)
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. But for me, it wasn't as much of a privacy issue on my end as much as me simply not needing to know every little detail about my great-uncle's day. I knew that my family wasn't going to use Facebook in a way that I would approve of so I refused to friend them until I left the house. Now that I'm at school, every time I see my parents post anything on Facebook, I cringe a little. I always tell my family that they are using it wrong, but they just don't get it. Next time my Uncle Jerry tells the world that he just got a new stamp for his collection, my head might explode!
ReplyDeleteI am an adult, and even I got queasy when one of my parents sent me a Facebook friend request. But I think the issue is a bigger one than you are suggesting with your blog post. Why does Facebook demand that we only have one identity on their service? I act differently in the classroom than I do around my workmates, differently to my immediate family than I do to my extended family, differently with my high school friends than with my "when I turned 40" friends. So why wouldn't Facebook or any other social networking service let me be more than one person? Let me log in as my high school persona, or my work persona, or my "only for my close friends" persona. And advertise to me differently in each guise!
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t agree more with your post! Facebook is just a lame excuse for adults to feel young again. When Facebook was first created it was a place for college students to let loose and have fun. However, today Facebook isn’t as free as it used to be, and we have to worry about the adults who look at our Facebook pages and make generalizations about us. Although I may be Facebook friends with adults, I rarely look at their profiles, so why do they care so much about my profile. I know Facebook is an important part of my life and I don’t know what I would do without it, but our societies addiction to Facebook says a lot about who we are. At some point we need to log off of Facebook; instead of stalking other people’s photos and memories, we need to go out and make memories of our own.
ReplyDeleteI agree totally. I am happy you posted something like this because everybody shares pretty similar feelings. I am actually friends with my mom on Facebook and at first it was weird, but now I don't really care. With my siblings too, they don't bother me. But I would obviously prefer to just keep the family talk over email, phone, and in person. There is no reason for them to be involved with your whole life, especially as a college student. If they want to find out something, they should call us. We should also learn to make an effort and stay away from Facebook once in a while because our society is definitely addicted.
ReplyDeleteI have to slightly disagree with a couple of the points discussed. We complain that our parents "can't keep up with technology these days". We complain that they aren't using Facebook right, aren't texting correctly; they can't do anything right in our minds. How, then, do we ever expect them to learn or integrate into the modern world. We get annoyed when they ask us how to work their new cell phone, yet how should we expect them to know the social norms? I am in no way saying that you should be Facebook friends with adults and let them see your entire social side. But that's why there is privacy settings. I actually think it's kind of selfish of us (college students) to claim that Facebook was made for us so that it should stay that way. It's a great way for adults to find old friends and reconnect. You can (and I do) limit what certain people can see on your profile. You can literally type in the exact name of whoever it is, or you can block a certain "group" of your friends. This includes posts you are tagged, posts you make, pictures you post, pictures people tag you in, it can all be blocked from anyone. Is there that much harm in letting your mother be your friend? If you take the responsibility to check your privacy settings and hide what needs to be hidden, why not let your parents delve into modern technology and social norms. It's what we've always wanted isn't it? Them to not be so "incompetent"?
ReplyDeleteI for one get annoyed when I see people in general who are typically reserved become extremely sociable on facebook (adults are the main culprit). Also when adults have drawn on conversations on fb they sometimes refer to each other by their NAME. For example, "Why yes David, that is a new suit." Face to face conversations should be emulated over the internet too, we shouldn't turn into a formal business meetingesque online friendship.
ReplyDelete