Facebook has made the online world smaller for many of us, allowing old friends, new friends, social groups and coworkers to connect with each other….but what happens when Mom and Dad connect with their own teenager?

An article published on USA Today points out that teens no longer have social networks to themselves. Parents are joining the networks either for the only social / professional needs and / or to keep an eye on their kids social network activity.

Guess what? Many teens aren’t too happy about this:

Living in the world without the usual social barriers between generations is causing a little discomfort for some and downright angst for others. “Think about what it would be like if your mom or dad enrolled in your high school class,” says Steve Jones, communications professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “They don’t belong there. That’s the same feeling (children) have: ‘This is ours. This belongs to me. This is not for parents.’

” The generation that grew up with the Internet has “this sense of ‘This is not something you’ll ever get. You won’t understand what we’re doing. You’re going to ruin it. We’ll never be ourselves if there is an adult around here.’ “

Now parents, if you have joined Facebook to keep an eye on your kids there are a couple of things you need to know:

1. Facebook users can hide parts of their profiles from certain users - so when your daughter decides to write about the older boy that she met, she can choose who she wants to share that information with - that means, you Mom can be blocked from reading certain posts.
2. Kids are fickle (you already know that), but what you may not know, is what other social network your child is active on. So, maybe the Facebook profile is “the parent safe” profile to keep Mom and Dad happy. (just something to be aware of)
3. There are other options to “hang out” with your child. Specifically, your child may feel that you don’t trust them, and maybe you don’t, but having a healthy relationship with your child offline, in the real world, is much more important.
4. Kids are tricky and will find ways to use those tricks. Consider this comment made by 10sGuy in response to the USA Today article:

“a little advice for Kids. the only way your parents can see your profile is if you accepted them as a friend. One don’t accept them as a friend and if they insist, create a dummy profile and add them as a friend and they would not know the difference.”

If you are a parent, and have set up a profile on social networks such as Facebook or Myspace with the intent of keeping an eye on your child, let us know how it is working for you by posting a reply to this post.

For a great Better Parenting University seminar on how to keep your child safe on the internet, click here.