Column:
Your mom's on Facebook
Published Sept. 15, 2009
You know that party a couple weekends ago that you only vaguely remember because of the pictures that surfaced on Facebook? Imagine if your parents had been there. Well now, they are.
Adult relatives invading our personal Facebook world is a distressing trend that has picked up over the past couple of years as more and more parents deem it necessary to create an online profile in order to keep in touch with their children. I'm sure they believe they are being trendy. I just believe they are being annoying.
Remember the early days of Facebook? It started out like a top-secret club, in which you needed a secret code (your university e-mail) and password (of your choice) in order to join. Once you had access, you could openly communicate with others of your kind — college students.
Now, Facebook has become a free-for-all, allowing just about anyone to join, which unfortunately includes our parents.
Although it seems superficial, Facebook has become such a staple in the social lives of college students that for many people, their online profile is just as important as their appearance in person. So when moms write embarrassing wall posts or make disapproving photo comments, a lot more people than just us read it.
I don't necessarily blame our over-the-hill relatives for their awkward and questionable behavior on Facebook; it's a generational gap. Most of us have never lived in a household that hasn't had a computer, so we grew up learning and adapting to online etiquette. For instance, we know not to Facebook friend people we have never met in person or not to make awkward comments on photos posted by our not-so-close friends. Some parents apparently never got that memo.
I will admit having my mom on Facebook has had some positives. For one thing, it forces me to re-examine my online profile to make sure it is socially appropriate for potential employers (and the general worldly public). Even still, there are some pictures, comments and inside jokes that, though they might be considered publicly acceptable, are still private to my friends and me and do not necessarily need to be seen by my parents.
The most distressing aspect of this whole invasion is the lack of privacy. College is a time for personal growth and establishing independence, so knowing your parents can keep tabs on you via your Facebook profile at any time of the day is all too similar to George Orwell's "1984" — it feels like Big Brother really is watching.
I know Facebook is now a multi-million dollar business and will never go back to the way it was a few years ago. And it's not that I don't appreciate keeping up with my mom — some of the messages and wall posts are very sweet. I would simply like to go back to the peaceful days when we could hold a conversation that didn't include the phrase, "So I saw on Facebook..."
