Warning: Grandma's on Facebook

by Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger

And her grandkids are not happy about it.

Getting friend requests from your grandmother isn't exactly "cool" in the world of social media obsessed teens.

In fact, a new survey says that large numbers of teens are abandoning their Facebook pages because they no longer want to deal with older family members having access to revealing information they post exclusively for their "real" friends.

According to the survey, the percentage of 15 to 24 year olds with a page on a social networking site has dropped for the first time ever, though not by a significant amount (from 55% to 50%). Meanwhile, the 25 and older group is growing exponentially.

If your kid or grandkid has refused to friend you online, then you're probably not surprised by the survey results. In fact, online rejection has a new home on the Internet. A group of moms whose kids were embarrassed about their activity on Facebook started their own page. That group begat another made up of about 5,000 (and growing) irate kids, who dubbed their page: "For the love of god -- don't let parents join Facebook."

Now that an increasing amount of grandparents are becoming Facebook fans, kids of all ages are getting grief about "just being themselves" and dropping the f-bomb on their personal pages. Teens don't want to be constantly worrying about editing themselves just because there's a chance mom, dad or grandma will show up on the scene and post comments about a lewd remark or sexually suggestive picture. The end result: Teens doing what they do best-walking away.

Let the family drama begin.

Actually, according to the survey, some parents and grandparents don't mind being rejected by their offspring. Meanwhile, others say that if their presence has forced their child to re-evaluate what they are disseminating on the World Wide Web, then it was worth the effort to register online.

As for the teens who are driving the mass exodus from Facebook, they say they simply grew tired of having grandma looking photos of them drinking with their buddies and creating drama for them on and off line.

Have you been rejected online by your kid?

Related Articles:

Confessions of a Reluctant Facebook Parent

Are You a Facebook Parent?

Twitter Mom Still on My Mind

Learn more about Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism.

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