My Facebook Decision

It took me awhile to gather all my thoughts about how to use Facebook, and I’ve made a few bloopers, but now I feel like I am on track. Here’s the story.

Because I am an online publisher, I feel a need to test and participate in major social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. But like everyone else, after you’ve been there awhile, the question arises, “Why am I here?”

My answer came blaring out at me when my seventeen-year old daughter went to study for a semester abroad in Israel, and she added me as her Facebook friend. It was then that I saw how today’s high school and college kids are using Facebook to keep in touch with their extended social circles. And, I loved it! I could chat with family members, we could organize who was bringing what to the holiday potluck, and we could share photos.

But at the same time it seemed both ridiculous and maybe even dangerous, to also include my online circle of readers and strangers. Who am I classifiying as strangers? There are huge numbers of “online wannabe rock stars” that feel that collecting friends on Facebook or Twitter will translate into some sort of celebrity status. And when strangers were friending me on Facebook, I had no way to differentiate between a Surfnetkids reader (whom I appreciate and have so much to learn from!) and that other kind of Internet stranger.

So, I decided to make my Facebook personal page, just that: completely personal. But, the good news, is that at the same time I do have place for Surfnetkids readers like you to join me on Facebook, and that is the Surfnetkids page here: http://www.facebook.com/surfnetkids.

So, a few months ago I started “unfriending” everyone who I hadn’t met in real life from my personal page. If I unfriended you, please do NOT take it personally. What I should have done is send out an announcement to all BEFORE I did the unfriending, but I wasn’t that clever. Ha ha. Hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

Currently, you can join with me at the Surfnetkids Facebook page by “becoming a fan.” Soon that wording will change to “Like” Surfnetkids. Either way, the result is the same.

I look forward to chatting. See you there soon, I hope.

P.S. While we are on the topic of Facebook, please make sure that your teens have all their privacy settings set at “Friends Only.” The “Friends of Friends” setting is just as dangerous as “Public.” But more on that in another post.