The thread title is a quote from DragonFire. Will he be fighting a losing battle with his children?

 

It comes across as heavy handed and tough to enforce to me DF. I am not saying you are wrong, I am saying this will be very difficult for you on many levels.

 

Everyone else?

I don't have kids so it's very hard for me to relate but I think I will allow it at a certain age. . I can't imagine what will be available in 20-25 for my kids. How do you plan to police that DF if you don't have FB? They could create one that is private and will be hard for you to find.

I don't plan on having kids any time soon, and as HT said, who knows what will be around then...but I think at 16 I'd let them have one.

This is not only unenforceable, but just silly. Facebook can be an excellent marketing and social experience and you are being incredibly short sighted and just plain old stubborn to not embrace such a resource. If if you don't embrace it, you have to accept it.

 

250 million + people a day use Facebook...

I don't have kids so it's very hard for me to relate but I think I will allow it at a certain age. . I can't imagine what will be available in 20-25 for my kids. How do you plan to police that DF if you don't have FB? They could create one that is private and will be hard for you to find.

 

IT and computer work is what I do for a living. If they could get it past me, they deserve to have an account.

First of all DF is clueless to say that. I opened a "my space account" to watch my kids and now have a Face book account which I only follow adults and my kids. Also dont forget Twitter!!!

Technology is real! We had pong, they have PS2, XBOX and Wii.

They have cell phones, we had land lines. They will never own their own land line. Times are changing, better keep up with them or your kids will pass you by!

 

By the way, just found out my kid was thinking about cutting school one day this week. BUSTED !!!!

This is not only unenforceable, but just silly. Facebook can be an excellent marketing and social experience and you are being incredibly short sighted and just plain old stubborn to not embrace such a resource. If if you don't embrace it, you have to accept it.

 

250 million + people a day use Facebook...do you also not drive, email, text, or listen to the radio?

 

I have a Facebook account for my business. (Though I will note I do not have a personal one. My business partner does, they set up the page. I go directly to that page.)

 

So you will not get me to disagree on the marketing side of it. I have a Twitter for the same purpose. I embrace that aspect of it. The rest of it, the social side? No, I don't need it. I have any number or resources that I can use to contact individuals, and I have no need of knowing every myopic detail of someone's life.

I have a Facebook account for my business. (Though I will note I do not have a personal one. My business partner does, they set up the page. I go directly to that page.)

 

So you will not get me to disagree on the marketing side of it. I have a Twitter for the same purpose. I embrace that aspect of it. The rest of it, the social side? No, I don't need it. I have any number or resources that I can use to contact individuals, and I have no need of knowing every myopic detail of someone's life.

 

Your childrens!

Your childrens!

 

Am I to believe people are incapable of learning the details of their child's life except through Facebook? Why go talk to my child when I can simply go sit at a computer?

IT and computer work is what I do for a living. If they could get it past me, they deserve to have an account.

 

Does that fact that you work in IT have anything to do with it? What are some of the main negatives you see from FB and your kids have it?

He probably won't have to worry about it since younger kids are shunning facebook and moving on to things like Twitter. Nothing is wrong with facebook IMO, it is simply a digital reflection of their daily social interactions. If they've been taught to act appropriately in public they will do so on facebook, etc. Cursing, compromising pictures, etc aren't facebook's problem it's the individual posting that sort of stuffs problem.

What's it take to set up an account? If it's just an email the kids can go to the library or a friend's house and set one up, can't they?

 

I just don't know how you can police it.

What's it take to set up an account? If it's just an email the kids can go to the library or a friend's house and set one up, can't they?

 

I just don't know how you can police it.

 

Friends, neighbors, library, smart phone, friends smart phone, Ipod touch, friends Ipod touch. No way you can keep them from getting on it. I'm not suggesting not monitoring it especially for younger teens but to simply say no isn't possible in my opinion. I'd set up the email address it goes to and I'd control the password for the email account and facebook so I could monitor but I think that is the best you can do.

Facebook doesn't ruin your reputation...you ruin your reputation.

Does that fact that you work in IT have anything to do with it? What are some of the main negatives you see from FB and your kids have it?

 

Working in IT does have some things to do with it. I have seen more than a few malware breakouts as a result of Facebook because people have not yet (and in fact may never) adjust fully to not trusting each and every thing they see on a wall or in a Facebook message. It's like with e-mails how some still get fooled, but most people are generally aware that they need to have their guard up. Not so with Facebook.

 

For me personally, and what I would fear from a child of mine, is some of the extra and unnecessary headaches that come from Facebook. The thread title came from a comment I made in a thread related to a child being forced to give up their Facebook password by school officials and consequences including detention and suspension for random comments made by the child (relating to saying they hated a school official because they were mean and then later asking who ratted them out which resulted in the suspension). A coworker of mine had constant headaches related to Facebook stalking because both he and his girlfriend wanted to interpret every tiny piece of activity or comment made. And that's just the person that I was exposed to the most on that particular problem - I've heard it from more than one person otherwise that that was a problem. Things like that.

 

I'm not saying people can't use it and enjoy it. I'm just saying that IMO it's a Pandora's box that I feel I'm by and large happier shunning. And it's not just because I'm out of college now, I did the same while in college.