Facebooking with Mom

Ever since your mom set up that Facebook profile, she has been friend requesting you, am I right? Who wants their mom to see the truth about what they did last night, really? Some kids actually do, and I think that’s rather cool, but sharing your online life with the parents isn’t for everyone. So, you have two options. One, you can keep ignoring it and hoping it’ll go away. Two, you can share only the parts of your profile that you want her to see. Problem solved? Let’s take a closer look.

1. You can ignore your mom’s Facebook requests, but that will only make her more intrigued by what she’s missing. You know the drill; if you act like you’ve got something to hide, people are going to start thinking you have something to hide. According to a recent survey, 73 percent of moms who aren’t friends with their children on Facebook view their profiles from someone else’s account. That’s right; while you think your mom is at work taking care of her ever-important administrative assistant duties, she’s actually spying on your Facebook account. Oh yeah; you can run, but you can’t hide. Does it make sense now how your mom seems to know everything about your life?

2. If you share only the parts of your profile you’d like her to see, you may appease the situation somewhat. But, be careful not to overdo it. Hiding everything but your name and contact info sends the same message as ignoring her friend requests. So, you might want to share your pictures, but not give her access to other people’s pictures that you’re tagged in. That just means you can’t post anything that you don’t want her to see, but it’s ok if other people do (as long as she’s not Facebook friends with them too).

3. Now, here’s the third super-stealthy option that I didn’t mention upfront: Start asking mom questions about her profile. You probably didn’t think much about what’s happening on mom’s page, but there may be a thing or two that she’s hiding from you. According to that same study (mentioned above) 46 percent of moms hide all or part of their profiles from their children. Say what? Time to turn the tables, my friend. Ask her to give you full access to her profile before you give her access to yours.