Social Networking

What has happened to face to face interactions?! When did we turn into a society that finds it unacceptable to communicate face to face. I am not against Facebook or MySpace. In fact I have a Facebook account, but I will be lucky if I have the time to get on their once a month. We don't talk to one another anymore and it is sad. It is fun to keep in touch with friends and relatives you don't see often, but when social networking takes the place to talking to people then I have a problem with it. I also have a problem with how Facebook and MySpace is so open. Students feel like because they are in front of a screen typing, what they post doesn't have any severe consequences. I have a niece that posted some questionable pictures on Facebook and I had to tell her that it was inappropriate, but she didn't find fault in the pictures. She and her friends were just having fun. Fun that can send the wrong idea. I just know that when my kids grow up, they are probably going to hate me because I am going to be very strict about what they do online and how they do it. They quiz says that I am a conversation starter "a", I hope that when the time does come, I will be able to have a serious conversation about social networking and my kids will listen. I know that social networking is not going away, but as a parent my goal for my kids is to provide them with the tool to make smart choices.