AIBU to think if you don't have FB or Twitter you're going to regret it?

[Tee2072]

Because you're kids are sure the hell going to have it and you can't protect them if you don't understand it.

So stop being proud of your lack of knowledge and learn!

A thread about many many many many threads.

Yabu

I have had both and have permantely deleted both.

If my children want to have their own accounts when they are older then that will be their decision, but I will do my best to educate them as to why it's a VERY bad idea.

I have heard that argument before, Tigerlily.

So what if there is something different in ten years? Ten years is a long time.

We didn't say, 'oh, I am not going to learn how to use text messaging cause in ten years everyone will be using Social Media to contact their friends'.

And i do not wish DSs future employer / girlfriend / mates seeing him sitting on the potty - because once you put stuff online it is there forever.

IMO it's fine to put pics of adults etc. up but FB has an age limit of 13 and i think it's odd folk post very personal pics of their DCs without their consent. By the time my DCs could be Prime Minister - the entire cabinet will be online from birth for everyone to see. Who wants to live like that? I would hate for everyone i know or will know to see me picking my nose and to know every sodding illness i ever suffered and that i loved my teddyboo.

DD is only two and using social media isn't exactly difficult, so I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. It'll be a whole other world in a decade.

I worry more about adults who think their online anonymity is assured, but don't seem to realise how little information it takes to make you identifiable.

I think we do need to keep up with technology as the younger generations have been born with it.
I'm in my late 30s & already feel technically inept.

I don't think we will be able to deny our children social networking sites. Hence the need to have knowledge of them to keep an eye on our children.

BBM on the blackberry worries me more. My daughter doesn't use it, thank goodness. But I would have no way of monitoring that.

She is very good mind. But it's more the cyber bullying I'd be worried about.

The school regularly give chats about staying safe on the Internet. As well as me!

I don't have a facebook account , my daughter does. I make sure that she tells me the password for it so I can check it . Surely you don't have to have an account yourself without being able to understand it.

I have twitter and use it both personally and for work. I get loads of teaching ideas from it and have shared resources with teachers all over the world. I find FB useful for keeping in touch with old friends & sharing photos with family members. I also make use of closed FB groups for work (secondary teacher) for example, when doing the school play we had a group so that I could update cast members on rehearsals and they could let me know things like if they were unable to make weekend rehearsals and ask questions. I find the opposition to social networking on MN odd.

YABU
Loads of people who have Facebook and twitter don't understand how they work. I don't have one either but i do understand how they work.

My DC's use fake names, fake birthdates and a unique email address that is used only for Facebook and that is not linked to any other account. Their accounts are set for maximum privacy and are set so that evil Facebook can't harvest their contacts. Unlike many of their friends my DC's don't run a fake 'parent suitable' account either

Yes but mm lindor op's argument was that we should be familiar with Facebook and twitter at a minimum so we can teach out children. My children are under 3 so at a push it will be ten years before I am too bothered (maybe less, fair enough). My point is that I'm not going to get up to speed on a particular social media site now purely to be able to reach them about it, as it's likely they'll be interested in something else. Would you have told my parents to learn all about instant messenger? Because I was obsessed with that ten years ago!

Yes, ok Tigerlily. I concede that point. You are excused :)

I don't think it will be 10 years till your toddler is interested in SM. I think the age that kids go online will get younger and younger, as more tech companies come up with ways to make SM accessible for younger kids safely.

I can't stress enough that it is not just the cyberbullying aspect that you should all be thinking about. It is also what your kids are sharing online.

Particularly those with teens and tweens need to take an interest now, and ensure that the DC know what is appropriate to share, and what could have serious personal consequences when they apply for a job/uni course.

It's worth being aware of even if you have pre schoolers. Any pictures you send to relatives could end up on their FB, shared with everyone they know and essentially 'out there' for good.

Yes mme lindor you are probably right about the ten years being too late. Only yesterday I was telling a DC-less friend that my daughter knew the word for 'YouTube', 'iPhone' and 'iPad' before she knew her own name. My friend was duly shocked but I think that this is not unusual for a child of her generation!

Yes, what MmeL has said. My own son is not quite 4 but already asks to go online to play games, which we play together.

I imagine he'll be asking about things like Facebook in not too many years.

Pickled
yes, that is a good point. How many MILs share pics on FB, and are there ones that you would want shared.

I read a comment on FB by a friend of a friend recently lamenting that naked photos of her DC were removed by FB and really had to stop myself saying, 'Are you out of your freaking MIND? Why would you upload naked pics of your DC?'

Those and school pictures, where children often wear tops with the school name on them.

Either way you're a fool if you don't use them and understand them

You don't have to use them to understand them.

Yes, you do soup. They change constantly.

I do SM for a living and find out new things about them almost daily. And I use them daily.

If you're not using them? You don't understand them.

As the basics of Twitter & Facebook can be mastered in about 2 hours, I think it is reasonable to leave it until it becomes relevant to your children if you're not interested in it for yourself.

I want a weibo account...

I think that yabu.

I don't have FB or Twitter.

By the time my dc is old enough to want to use either it will most likely be something else other than those two. And although I'm not on there myself, I understand what they are about and how they work. It doesn't take a genius.

So if a time comes when dc is old enough to want to use either of these, and they are still about, I'll be able to police any usage quite easily.

Although I may just block them from the computer at the time and check any phone dc may or may not have. Absolutely no need for FB or Twatter, especially for under 18s.

What are they about and how do they work Mousey?

Mousey
I would rather the DC learn to use SM responsibly, than them sneak to a friend's house to use their computer and set up a FB account behind my back.

Not that I agree with Twitter or FB for under 13yos, but I think from that age it is better to allow them than to make it verboten, and thus more interesting.

Oh boy, Mousey. Do they not have friends? Or relations who might think you're draconian and unreasonable?

Blocking them will be about as effective as abstinence only sex ed has been in the US.*

*In case you aren't aware, states with that have the highest teen pregnancy rates.

I see your point OP, but I agree with Tigerlily it's only really relevant for people with DC's of facebook/twitter age.

As you say it changes constantly, so there's not much point in me getting up to speed with it now, when my DC's won't use it for another few years and it will all have changed by then.

I also think you can probably protect your DC reasonably well by having a general idea of how it works (not using it every day to track every change) and teaching them to be sensible.