As I mentioned in an earlier post, I use FB very rarely although I can see how it could be a useful network to some.
Having added my friends and family I then became privvy to the constant "chatter" between my 13 year-old daughter, her cousins and their friends. All too young to be part of my "network" and mostly always talking the same inane drivel that we must have done at their age (although I can't remember being so banal, haha).
I suddenly felt uncomfortable, as though eavesdropping, and decided to un-invite myself from these exchanges.
As a parent it's a great temptation to go prying, especially when teenagers can be so uncommunicative, but I decided that I prefer not to know, or at least not to find out by snooping.
What was clear was that these kids seem unaware, or have forgotten who is on their network and who is, potentially, looking.
What was also clear was that, if I was so minded, I could trawl through the contents, photos and conversations of people with the most remote connection to me (friends of friends etc) which seems entirely wrong and inappropriate.
Yes, there are the options in your settings to limit access to friends only, but, given the culture of friend-collecting and the percieved kudos of having hundreds of names on your pages that exists on FB, security seems to be furthest from their minds.
It feels that we've probably gone a little too far down the road to turn back, but I'm left feeling uncomfortable by the sudden rush to on-line social networking.
Admittedly, we've been doing a similar thing here on Mudcat for years, but, in the main, contributors are of mature age, considered in their postings and at no time do we send or receive invites to each other or share personal information unless we really choose to.
Maybe I'm just feeling my age......