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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

94 replies

Tee2072 · 22/04/2013 17:34

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.

OP posts:
Curioustiger · 22/04/2013 19:40

Here's a quotation from Thomas Friedman which I think is very pertinent (the context is that he was talking about a book he wrote in 2005):

Facebook wasn't in it, Twitter was still a sound, the cloud was still in the sky, 4G was a parking place, LinkedIn was a prison, and, for most people, Skype was a typo," he said. "That all happened in six years."

So this is why I would not rush specifically to be on Facebook and twitter for the sake of my young DCs. Honestly the future will be google glasses or location specific technologies or fridges which automatically order your ocado delivery. Or something none of us can even think of right now!

minkembra · 22/04/2013 19:40

You disproved your own point there tee you said you better 'learn them now' and yet 'they change every day'.

Imo this is just a way for those who neglect their kids to go online all day who feel guilty about being on SM too much to make out it is a parental duty Wink

OutragedFromLeeds · 22/04/2013 19:42

'fridges which automatically order your ocado delivery'

Shock take that on dragon's den!

ShellyBoobs · 22/04/2013 19:44

YAB utterly U.

I wouldn't have a Facebollox account if it was the last method of boasting about what a fantastic life I have communication left on earth.

DD has an account, however, and I understand perfectly how it works and monitor her activity closely.

Curioustiger · 22/04/2013 19:44

Outraged, they already exist but they cost a fortune! Not my clever idea sadly!

HopeForTheBest · 22/04/2013 19:49

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ on request of its author.

Original poster
Tee2072 · 22/04/2013 19:50

The 'fridge already exists. From 2000

And I also said further on, minkembra that everything that comes after will build from what's here now.

And it's not just how to use SM. It's how not to use SM.

And yes, I neglect my child. That's it exactly. Hmm

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 22/04/2013 19:52

I do understand FB and Twitter, that is the reason I have neither Grin. DS1 has FB, I have his password, and check what he's up to.

Curioustiger · 22/04/2013 19:54

hope I agree to an extent with that. Ignoring social media altogether would be a mistake. But my technophobic MIL picked up Facebook in two days because there was something in it for her (sharing photos). I think if there was the need you would always be able to learn.

Anniegetyourgun · 22/04/2013 19:55

My DCs are too old for me to monitor their stuff, so I can ignore the 'orrible media if I want to. And I fully intend to do that.

(I firmly believe it would take very little time to get up to speed on if I could be bothered. I ain't fick and they aren't complex. Unless the OP is talking about programming social media rather than faffing about on it.)

catgirl1976 · 22/04/2013 19:55

Technology is moving so fast that I believe if you are not up to speed and adpated to what there is now, you will have a much harder time trying to adpat to what is out there in 10 years

Social media is a cultural change, it's influencing politics, language and so much more. Why you would opt out of that baffles me a bit

SomethingOnce · 22/04/2013 19:56

Hope, I bet I started using social media in its earliest forms before many here, but people seem to have caught up well enough Grin

SomethingOnce · 22/04/2013 19:58

Furthermore, these DCs of the future will all 'dive in' to something new at some point.

People cope.

OutragedFromLeeds · 22/04/2013 20:03

There is a big difference between being totally ignorant of social media and using facebook and twitter everyday to keep on top of changes. There is a middle ground of being aware enough of it that you could learn if/when you need to, but without needing to engage in it daily.

I also think you're putting too much emphasis on being able to check up and spy on what your kids are doing online. At some point you do need to teach them to be responsible. My mum had no idea about yahoochat, back in the day, but she didn't need to, we wouldn't have arranged to meet anyone/given out personal details because she'd told us not to and the reasons why we shouldn't.

Kids will be taught how to use social media safely, part of the battle is raising your kids to heed those warnings.

PrivateNightmare · 22/04/2013 20:04

YABU to assume that those of us who don't use Facebook and Twitter don't understand how they work. Some people make a conscious decision not to have a Facebook account because Facebook is basically evil. I use neither Facebook or Twitter but I know the difference between "your" and you're". I guess we all have different priorities.

minkembra · 22/04/2013 20:04

It may build from what is here now but so what?

Oh no! How will the dcs possibly learn to use whatever is around when they are old enough without having been around for MySpace?? Shock
Maybe the same way that I learned to use an mp3 player without first having been through all phases of music delivery since the gramaphone.

It is only social media not quantum mechanics FFS. (and amazingly despite not being on FB I do know the pitfalls one of which is becoming an SM bore.

YAB unreasonably patronising and as obsessed by social media as only people who work in the industry can be.

come off FB. there is a life outside waiting for you. It will be hard but others have recovered. you can too!

OutragedFromLeeds · 22/04/2013 20:10

That is a good point mink my 80 year old grandmother is a whizz with the internet shopping, I think it took about 20 minutes to master it and she hadn't had to work her way through the history of computers, just bought one and got started.

AvrilPoisson · 22/04/2013 20:25

I think YABU a little tee.
I first started using chat rooms in 1993... does that make me a better MNer than those that signed-up last week? I don't think so.
It makes me more cautious about what I post, as I'm of the net generation that couldn't be 'out' as a female, but anyone can read the tech press and get up-to-speed on that kind of thing.

HopeForTheBest · 22/04/2013 21:12

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ on request of its author.

MmeLindor · 22/04/2013 21:20

I don't think that you have to use SM to understand it, but a lot of the SM refuseniks have utterly no idea about it. And, sorry, calling it 'evil' is a sign that you don't understand it.

Social Media is not evil, Facebook is not evil. What people sometimes do with Facebook can be daft, irritating, bloody annoying, stupid, irresponsible, offensive and even illegal. Just as a person can be all of these things.

Used responsibly and well, SM can be a inform, educate, connect and support those who need a friend.

I don't think everyone should use SM, as not everyone wants to do so, but it is good to be open-minded about other forms of communication.

Original poster
Tee2072 · 22/04/2013 21:43

That is my point, MmeL. It's a computer program. How can it be evil?

OP posts:
LunaticFringe · 22/04/2013 21:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Curioustiger · 22/04/2013 22:03

tee Facebook is not just a computer programme. It is an immensely rich corporation, run by a genius, with many millions of users and a stated intent to pursue its social mission ahead of any short term financial gain. Its 'social mission' is defined as being changing the world, including both government and business, by connecting individuals. The way in which the world is going to change is not described in any level of detail in the letter to shareholders which sets out the social mission. The means by which Facebook achieves that is to sell our private data to organisations which expect to profit from that information. So we have a hugely powerful body which has a sweeping aim and few regulatory or financial constraints. I agree that doesn't make Facebook evil but for now I'm not signing up. And as per many posts above, it's not because of lack of knowledge.

Original poster
Tee2072 · 22/04/2013 22:06

Whatever tigerlily. We're going in circles.

You disagree with me, that's your prerogative, not that you need my permission.

I hope it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass some day.

I'm off to bed. I doubt I'll be back to the thread.

OP posts:
jollygoose · 22/04/2013 22:15

have givn up on personal fb as it seems to me a lot of fb "friends" are fb stalkers. One previously close gf seems to validate her whole life on it just so everyone can "like" every photo of her precious dd that she puts on daily. Just hope my kids will be too busy leading more productive lives to bother.