"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!

Facebook impersonations at the AT&Tstore

So we were at the AT&T store the other day looking at cell phones, playing around with all the phones on display along the wall.  Now they are all fully functional phones, to really give you a good feel for how they operate.  So being the immature one that I am, I pick up one of the phones and start texting and calling my wife, who is on the other side of the store.  Hilarious, I tell you.

 

Anyway, I look further, and I start to poke around at the web access features on the phones.  Turns out a lot of them have a Facebook app installed, and wouldn't you know it, on the first one I pick up, the phone is already logged in to someone's Facebook account.  

"Facebook for Parents" course available!

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 PA Recreation Department.  Sessions are available on either Wednesday September 22, or Thursday October 7.  Read more at the Mechanicsburg Recreation site, or register online here; select Activities and search for the keyword of "Facebook".

Only $9.00 for early registration for residents in the school district, $14 for non-residents.  A bargain!  I'm sure you know someone who would benefit from this course, please pass it along!

e-Book: Facebook and Kids - Year by Year

Coming soon: an e-Book on the challenges that parents will encounter with Facebook as their kids grow.  Working title is "Facebook and Kids - Year by Year".  The draft table of contents is as follows:

Age 12:  Just Wait
Age 13:  Trust But Verify
Age 14:  It’s a Tool, Not a Toy
Age 15:  The Internet is Forever
Age 16:  Their Pages Reflect On You
Age 17:  Colleges are Looking
Age 18:  Keep In Touch
Age 19:  Expand the Definition of Friends
Age 20:  Networking for a Career
Age 21:  Let Go

Now your experience may only be at the low end of this age range, but you may know of others who would benefit from the tips for older kids.  Please forward/like/share/tweet/etc. to others who you think would benefit, or who could add more insight.

What other areas should be covered?  Let's hear your thoughts in the comments!

The (Friend) List is Life...

OK, the title is a little over-dramatic, but it got your attention…  Class, today's lesson is on Friend Lists in Facebook…

So your kid's getting older, starting to become more independent, and is generally embarrassed by your presence.  (If he's not embarrassed by you, are you really doing your job?)  You want to keep an eye on what he's up to online, despite his reluctance to let you see everything in his world…  Being connected to him on Facebook has the same allure of you yelling out "Hi sweetie!" to him at the bus stop,  But there is a middle ground where you can be connected while still giving him a semblance of freedom, and that is done by Facebook Lists.

"I'm majoring in Facebook, with a minor in Twitter…"

We have all heard the expression:  "Do what you love, and the money will follow…"  And I'm sure you have also heard something like:  "How's spending all day Facebook going to help you get a job?"  (But the big question is: were you making these statements or hearing them?)  Well, these two differing views of the world are now starting to merge…  An entire career category of Social Media is beginning to appear on the job landscape.

Reunions: does Facebook help or hinder?

I've been getting communications recently about Reunion Weekend at my college alma mater.  I'm coming up on one of those milestone years (20!), so there is a bit more activity surrounding this year's festivities.  (Twenty years!?!  Feels like yesterday sometimes...) 

I have kept in touch just a small number of close friends out of college.   High school?  Forget it.  Even a few years out of high school I was only in touch with a few friends.   And one of them put it best:  "If I want to see anyone from high school, I'll call to have a pizza delivered…"  (Needless to say he didn't have a very high opinion of high school…)  But things changed recently…

Talking with Strangers - it's not as creepy, thanks to Facebook

So our little offspring is looking into a 'Study Abroad' program at college.  Very cool!  This came up in a conversation I was having at work, and it so happens that this colleague of mine has a grandson who is at her destination school right now.  So he suggests that my daughter contact his grandson, to get some first-hand knowledge of the place.  Simple enough, right?  But think about it, this is really an attempt to make a 3rd degree connection:  my daughter, to me, to my co-worker, to his grandson.  How would you start this conversation?  Isn't this a bit awkward?  Even creepy, perhaps?  "Uh, you don't know me, but…"

You're being watched - with help from the kids

So we were out and about running errands the other day, when I ran into an old friend and colleague of mine. Haven't seen him for years, but we just picked up where we left off all that time ago... So we're catching up when all of a sudden he says, "So I see the kids' Facebook pages, they sure are growing, aren't they? And I don't see your wife out there with a Facebook, what's up with that?

I guess I was a little taken aback, and before my brain caught up with my mouth, I heard myself say, "What, are you stalking me or something?!?".

Christmas cards or Facebook pokes?

After a several year hiatus, we sent out some Christmas cards this year. No particular reason for not sending them in years past, just the typical excuses of not getting around to it, not getting pictures developed in time, feeling awkward sending them out in April, etc…

It seemed like we were getting fewer cards in the mail ourselves this year, and at first I attributed it to the lack of our reciprocation for the last few years. However, it seems to be a national trend. The Washington Post chronicles this movement in their 2009 Holiday Guide section, so now perhaps I don't feel so bad, hearing that it's not just us! But is it a sign of the current lackluster economy, or of a larger shift in behaviors?

Home Alone - 2009 Edition

Here's an article from the summer, but it's equally applicable now that everyone is heading away from home for the holidays... This article is an interesting view on how your online status can tip off potential criminals that your house will be empty...

Now perhaps you don't update Facebook or Twitter with your every move, but your kids might! Double check their status before you head out of town, and if they grumble about how 'it's not a big deal', perhaps you can come to a compromise; rather than posting when they are leaving, suggest that they post an update when they get back - 'Just got home from Christmas at Grandma's!'

A Ringing Endorsement

"A Facebook class for parents? I'm not telling my parents about it..."
-- S. and K., college students

I don't think I could have asked for a better recommendation!

I will be teaching "Web 2.0 for Parents" in Mechanicsburg PA, on November 2 & 9.

Click here to register, or go to http://www.mbgsd.org/recreation and search for the "Web 2.0 for Parents" course.

[Update - this class is now complete!]

Not Their Parents' Online World

This item from PBS shows the big differences between how parents and their kids use and see the Internet differently. While we grew up with the web as a place to 'get stuff', our kids are using is a place to 'put stuff'.

Not a bad thing, just different! It also goes into the 11 skills that kids will need, in order to use these new technologies to the fullest.

If you think this technological leap is big, just think back 20 years or so, where the Internet was only known by those guys in the basement of the science building (yes, that was me...).

WSJ: The Helicopter Parents Are Hovering on Facebook

Being 'un-friended' by your own flesh and blood? This article in the Wall Street Journal tells the tale. OK, perhaps once your offspring is 25 years old as in this article, you can't force them to be your 'friend', but what about when they are 14 and living under your roof?

Is being locked out of your kid's Facebook page like being locked out of their room? Where should the line be drawn? Let's hear what you think in the Comments...

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids

Very funny from The Onion - a segment on the ficticious "Today Now" show, where the resident 'E-Mom' shows you how she 'writes to her son Jeffrey five or six times per day', and can learn about his female friend 'just by the look of her trampy picture!'

A few profanities on the screen, be warned, but none in the audio. Enjoy!

"Web 2.0 for Parents" course now available!

Attention parents! A new course is now available in central Pennsylvania for those of you who are trying to keep up with your kids and their Facebook escapades...

Are your kids blogging, tweeting, and friending? Do you have no idea what this means? With great power - the Internet - comes great responsibility - as a parent! Learn about all the social networking tools and trends, with the goals of keeping up with, keeping an eye on, and encouraging more communication with your kids.

Click here to register, or go to http://www.mbgsd.org/recreation and search for the "Web 2.0 for Parents" course.

[Update - this class is now complete!]