Are you friends with your kids on Facebook?
Three out of my four children are of Facebook age. I am friends with all of them. I consider that an accomplishment. In some cases I am friends of their friends and in many they are friends of my friends. But I have been asking around and found out that Facebook´s success has been annoying for teenagers who dread what their parents may learn about them on Facebook. But I guess this tension reflect real life tension. If you get along in real life you get along in Facebook and if you don´t, well, why should it be different in Facebook. Yes, I do admit that when I see pictures of them going wild at a party I occasionally wonder if they were drunk, stoned or under some influence but then the “observation” goes both ways. When others post pictures of Nina and I going wild at some party…they are there for my kids to see. It´s been over a year now of Facebook co existence and so far the experience has been a great way to keep in touch. Especially with my daughter Alexa who left Madrid to attend college at Columbia University. Through Facebook I find those irrelevant details about my kids lives that turn them into even more lovable people who are out there to have a great time. I particularly enjoy the comments that other kids make on them. When buddies publicly praise your kids on their wall or in their pictures I feel an unavoidable parent´s pride. I am also happy that Facebook has destroyed the culture of privacy. For years I have felt that the conversation on privacy among parents and kids was an excuse for lack of communication. And when the phone was the only tool you would not get a lot of the stories just because your kids may not feel like calling you to tell you some seemingly irrelevant detail about their lives. Still when you love them so much those irrelevant details become News. And that is the genius of Facebook, to discover that when love is involved those “news” can be more important than whoever Obama is appointing to be a new cabinet member.
Follow Martin Varsavsky on Twitter: twitter.com/martinvars
Posted on General | 12:07 pm
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