“I Stalk Because I Care” (Clueless Parents on Facebook)

My official disclaimer is, I’m going to offend many parents who read this post, and others will relate and think before they do anything on their kid’s social media sites. Naturally, of course, if you “stalk because you care” as many parents have told me, just using the word “stalk” shows an obsession to begin with. Maybe at that point your kids would be better of blocking you immediately, but I digress…. Social media and Facebook are great tools for keeping in touch with distant acquaintances, old buddies, relatives, close family who are geographically not close and ex-work mates, etc. This does make our world smaller, but with that said this post is directed at parents who are lucky enough to have their kids or young adult offspring “friend” them to begin with, and with this act of respect comes great responsibility, your kid is counting on you to act age appropriately and show a little tech savvy. Every time your child posts something or is tagged by a friend or classmate, we have the urge to post a witty “comment” or “like” it right away. That’s usually because we are truly excited for them, happy for them, and it shows the world how much we love our kiddos. You need to suspend your point of view for a moment and try to see this from your Childs perspective. Here comes the part where I upset the masses… Do not do it! What are you thinking? Pull your head out and think! You just embarrassed them and ruined any chance your young adult ever had of being friends or maybe even dating that person ever in the future! You have now become a social media detriment to your kid. Here’s my best analogy to this situation so the parents reading this can draw a parallel. I was a teenager, rather young adult in the 70’s and 80’s, we didn’t have social media, but remember when you were playing a sport and that parent in the stands that yelled the loudest to cheer for their kid, or if they did something good? Remember how they were teased the following days? Well every time you click “Like” you are yelling the loudest. However, instead of 30 people and their friends hearing that parent in the crowd, your kid was just embarrassed in front off all his friends and each one of his friend’s friends, and so on, and so on. It’s the drop in the water ripple effect times 1,000! It’s their spear of influence, not yours! It’s their life, not yours! If you have a close relationship with your child or children, then you already know whom their friends are, what is going on in their life, and you can view their social media pages at will. You don’t have to embarrass them at the same time. A note to the kids, if your parent doesn’t have a filter in real life, what made you think they would on social media? One last point, when you post anything about your child on your Facebook page do not type in their full name at that point you just tagged your kids FB page and now all his friends, friends, friends just show that same post. Just use your Childs first name, remember it’s on your FB page, your friends should already now who you’re referring to just by their first name. Parents please don’t be that stupid parent use your filter, show some good judgment, and think before you click! If not prepare to be blocked by your child and if you live vicariously through your kids social life, then get a life of your own. But, don’t worry they will probably still come home for the Holidays, even embarrassed and humiliated kids still want gifts!