Facebook was originally created for college students, but parents have invaded.
Most millennials have migrated to Twitter or Instagram; Facebook is for business purposes only. But for the generation born thirty years prior to us, Facebook is poppin’ off. The excess of middle-aged adults may be the real reason our generation deserted the site. Many adults initially joined the sight to monitor their kids, but they have since taken over completely.
There are two types of adults on Facebook. There are the adults that don’t understand how to use Facebook and there are the adults who abuse Facebook.
Parents who don’t understand Facebook can seem ridiculous. They are either astounded or concerned when they receive their first friend request. They are baffled by the thought of posting a status. As you explain that others are interested in what they are doing, they’re completely freaked out. These are the same adults that still have a landline phone and constantly indulge in telling stories of “the golden days.”
But the parents who abuse Facebook are much worse. These adults can’t resist the opportunity to connect with someone who was in their third grade class. They love to keep everyone in the know. They boast their children’s accomplishments and send out Candy Crush requests daily.
I have a Facebook mom, big time. I have no doubt that my mom knows how to use it better than I do. My friends regularly learn about my life events before I tell them, because they read my mom’s Facebook posts. Sure, I love it when my mom brags about me to her friends and followers, but I don’t need them to be informed of every lunch outing.
Some things just don’t need to go on the Internet. A lot of the adults on my friend’s list post hourly. These statuses range from a simple “Had fun at the lake” to a 500-word rant about their dinner waitress. At a certain point, you are posting too much and you should consider starting a blog.
But the worst is an adult that constantly shares their political opinions online.
Now, I believe that everyone on Facebook should abide by the cardinal rule: no political debates. If you wouldn’t have the discussion via email or text, it definitely should not be online. While all ages are guilty of public Facebook fighting, a parent-on-parent verbal war prompted my writing this article.
My Facebook feed is constantly over-crowded with political thoughts and opinions. The majority of these posts come from adults. This is likely due to the fact that, like I stated earlier, the younger generation is under represented in the Facebook world. Regardless, I really don’t want to read your crude posts about gay marriage and the confederate flag. Your boss probably doesn’t want to read it either. Social media is not the place for political debate, moms and dads.
At this point, Facebook is almost entirely void of young people. It has become the play place for the over-forty. It’s hard to look cool on a social network that you share with your mom.
No hard feelings, mom.