Facebook for Parents - class summary

We had a great group of parents at our most recent "Facebook for Parents" class!

The group was a cross-section of people with varying technical experience.  Some had younger children and were preparing themselves for the inevitable day when the kids joined Facebook.  Some parents had college age kids who set up their Facebook accounts for them, in order to stay in touch.  And a few were already experienced in the tool, and just wanted to learn more.

A few revelations that occurred for the attendees during the class include:

• There is nothing preventing one of your Facebook friends from uploading ANY picture, and tagging it with your name. Our attendees now know how to update their privacy settings to ensure each photo that they get tagged in is approved by them before it is made public.

Parenting the Facebook Generation

On September 14, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology held “Social Media Summit 2011”, a gathering of great minds and perspectives on all things related to Social Media.  The organizers of the event were clear to point out that they did not want to offer topics that were found everywhere else, and they certainly succeeded on that front!  Among the many sessions was the topic of “Parenting the Facebook Generation”, a session full of useful tips, interesting facts, and heartfelt stories.

"Facebook for Parents" class!

For those of you in the Central PA area:

Are your kids friending, tweeting and blogging? Do you have no idea what this means? With great power - the Internet - comes great responsibility - as a parent!  Learn how information in Facebook is shared, what you have control over, and how you can make it a better experience for your kids and your family.  Also learn about other social networking tools and trends, with the goals of keeping up with, keeping an eye on, and encouraging more communication with your kids.

"Facebook for Parents" is a 90 minute course offered through the Mechanicsburg Recreation Department.  The class will be on Tuesday October 18 at 7pm. 

Click here to register!

Only $9.00 for early registration for residents in the school district, $14 for non-residents.  Prices go up the longer you wait..

I'm sure you know someone who would benefit from this course, please pass it along!

This guy is my hero

My folks waved at me at the bus stop from time to time, just to embarrass me, but nothing like this guy!

Dale Price stands on his front porch every day to wave at his son on the bus, but in costume each time!  Check out his blog at Wave at the Bus to see every day of the school year!

There is a whole writeup on Yahoo News - I suspect his popularity will only increase from here!

Top 10 Privacy Settings to check in Facebook

There are a lot of privacy and security settings available in Facebook, and the full list can be a bit confusing.  So to help you focus on the most critical items, here is a Top 10 list of settings to check (on your account, and on your kids' accounts!) in Facebook:

1)   Make sure your full birthday is not publicly displayed (Home / Edit My Profile) - Sure, we all enjoy getting a pile of birthday wishes on our big day, but those less scrupulous out there can use this information against you to steal your identity!  If you definitely want your birthday known, at least exclude the year from your Profile:

 

 2)  Make sure your home address is not entered in their profile (Home / Edit My Profile / Contact Information) - there is no need to enter your physical address into Facebook; you (and your kids) should just leave this blank:

3)  See what applications you have granted access to (Accounts / Privacy Settings / Apps and Websites) - any time you go to another website that allows you to log in with your Facebook ID/password, you have granted the ability for that application to gain access to your data (and that of your friends) in Facebook.  In many cases this is just fine, but it's good to know what is out there:

4)  Validate the location-based settings (Privacy Settings / Customize Settings) - Location based applications are all the rage now, but just be aware that when the world knows you're at the ball game right now, they also know your house is empty.  Use with caution!

5)  Google your kids' presence on Facebook - a simple search will help show what information in Facebook is available to the public, and not just to those who are set up as your Friends:

6)  Check for any Events your kids have set up, to ensure they are not set as Public, and that your personal information is not listed.  Also check events that they have replied to (Home / Events) - Another reason to make sure your home address is not public, and also to ensure that small gathering your son wanted doesn't turn into the entire high school showing up at your house...

 

7)  Closely examine the “Things Others Share” section of the Privacy Settings (Account / Privacy Settings / Customize Settings) - Even if you tighten up all your settings, your Friends still have some authority to share your information.  Tighten that up as well!

8)  Check what your friends can share about you through applications (Account / Privacy Settings / Applications and Websites) - Another example of keeping some control over your own information, rather than leaving that up to the others in your network.

9)  Get notifications when specific updates occur (Account / Account Settings / Notifications) - play around with the settings here if you end up getting inundated with emails..  Sadly there is no parental level notifications in Facebook, the emails get sent to the address of the account, so if you child has a Facebook account, the notifications go to his email.

10)  Limit who can see tagged photos (Account / Privacy Settings / Customize Settings) - Pick one of your friends and go through their Friend list - some will let you see their pictures (Friends of Friends setting) and some will not (Friends Only setting).  Use this to decide how you want your privacy level to be.

Facebook continues to modify their privacy features; check these occasionally to ensure you and your family are only sharing what you want to share!

Facebook for Parents- classes in Harrisburg and Gettysburg

Now "Facebook for Parents" will be offered through the Continuing Education arm of Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC)!

Two dates are on the calendar:
Wednesday April 20th - Harrisburg
Tuesday May 24th - Gettysburg



Click here to find out more and to register!