Teaching Your Parents How to Behave on Social Networks

Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:37PM by Francis Duncan
Filed under: Online Safety Tips, Social Networking

Many parents don't really "get" this whole social networking thing. Some parents simply don't want to know. Others really want to know so they can understand what their kids are doing online.

One of the challenges that some adults find in social networks is that they aren't comfortable with the netiquette on a given site. They are perfectly functional adults in every other social situation, but when they get online, the rules are different. Until someone tells them the etiquette, they don't know what "normal" is. If they want to sign up for a profile on one or more of the same sites as their kid, they will most likely want to link to your, i.e. their child's, profile.

Here are some things to keep in mind when introducing parents to the world of social networking:

-- When accepting them as a friend, use it as an opportunity to let your parent know the netiquette of that particular site. Explain the different parts of the site and anything that could get annoying to frequent users.

-- Have them ask you before they ask to "friend" any of your friends. It doesn't mean they have to, or will, but can't hurt to ask if you think they might embarrass you.

-- Explain how linking to different profiles works (you can opt to accept or decline an invitation to be linked to someone else's profile, etc.)

-- Ask your parent how they are going to use the site and show them how to do what they want to do. Are they going to email, post pictures, send virtual gifts, send IM's, seek out others with their interests, etc?

-- Teach them how the privacy settings work. This is to avoid having them post that embarrassing 1st grade picture of you with no front teeth for the world to see.

If they sign up for a network different than yours, your parents will probably still appreciate the help. It is a great opportunity to show how savvy you have become!

Do you (or would you) let your parents be your "friend" on your social networking site?

Comments (4)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

shannonGB 1-05-2009 @ 2:57PM

Its also a great way of creating bonds between parent and kid. This is one of the times when a teen can be in a higher position of authority than the parent, being that kids are usually more cyber-saavy than most adults. It can ease tensions in the relationship if any as, the kid and the parent will be interacting with each other on the same level.

shannonGB 1-05-2009 @ 2:58PM

Archana Shekar 1-20-2009 @ 4:33AM

Nice article, If we follow this then relationships between the teen and the parent will improve and they get closer so that teens can share their experiences with parents and they can solve easily.

Archana Shekar
online safety advisor - www.8falcons.com

Greg McQuade 2-15-2009 @ 5:27PM

Being a parent is so much harder than it used to be. We're encouraged to hand our kids over to strangers, sex offenders, paedophiles for the majority of the day from the earliest ages. As for me, I don't allow my children to have My Space or any other social networking accounts at all. I constantly struggle with the balance of watching out for my kids when they go online. I even istalled internet filter Ez Internet Timer http://www.internettimer.net. It helps me control Internet usage for my kids.