I read an article, “Back-to-school advice for safe & ethical social networking“, that picqued my curiosity as a new parent. Even though I really don’t have to worry about Dwight Jr. participating in social networking for at least a few more years, I’m trying to start thinking about those kinds of situations now.

Try to become familiar with the technology your kids use. That doesn’t mean you necessarily have to be their friend on Facebook or MySpace, but before you start trying to control how they use social-networking technology, make sure you understand it.

I think this is great advice, not just for social networking, but for everything kids (or your spouse, for that matter) are into – especially technology. I definitely have fond memories of my parents wanting to be involved in things I was excited about… especially when they would sit down for a game of Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., Star Wars Battlefront or Axis & Allies. Having a common frame of reference for talking about my hobbies with my parents? Priceless. (Yeah, yeah, I didn’t include a list of things you can buy for $13 on debit Mastercard. Meh.)

Larry Magid, the author of the article quotes some great guidelines from Hemanshu Nigam, the Chief Security Officer at MySpace, for social networking behavior. It’s geared towards kids, but we all need to be reminded of these rules.

• Post with respect: photos are a great way to share wonderful experiences. If you’re posting a photo of you and your friends, put yourself in your friends’ shoes and ask would your friends want that photo to be public to everyone. If yes, then you’re uploading photos with respect.
• Comment with kindness: compliments are like smiles, they’re contagious. When you comment on a profile, share a kind word, others will too. [Note from Dwight: Speaking of Comments... I love to see them on my blog... *hint, hint*]
• Update with empathy: sharing updates lets us tell people what we think. When you give an opinion on your status updates, show empathy towards your friends and help them see the world with understanding eyes.

not bad, eh?

Too much Facebook makes all teenage girls depressed.

Chris Matyszczyk wrote a CNET article, disagreeing with a study done by Stony Brook University, which claims that:

excessive co-rumination–perhaps you would refer to it as “chatting with your friends about your problems”–by text, e-mail and on social-networking sites leaves impressionable teenage girls more prone to anxiety and depression.

He claims that if it wasn’t Facebook it would be “bathroom gossip”, text messages, phone calls, slumber parties… you get the picture. Having never been a teenage girl myself, I can’t really attest to this (hopefully Chris cannot either?), but it seems to me that the persistent and “open” nature of Facebook goes beyond text messaging and slumber parties and is asking for trouble. Not just for teenage girls or even the female gender – I think it can be a problem for anyone.

<keep reading after the jump!>

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