Facebook Tips For Grandparents

These days, social networks aren’t just for college students. One recent poll stated that use of social networks by adults over the age of 50 had skyrocketed this year, to over 80 percent. These sites can be fun diversions where you can explore subjects of interest, but if you know how to use them, they can also be a way to connect with grandchildren who you might not see all that often.

Understanding how young people use these networks is key to turning them into a satisfying means of communication; however, young people have developed their own etiquette on these networks, and having a general feel for these unspoken rules will mean they’re more likely to engage with you via Facebook. Keep these tips in mind when “friending” the grandchildren in your life.

Facebook profiles are hugely important in the social life and image of middle schoolers and high schoolers. Be sensitive to this, and understand that repeated messages from you on their public Facebook profile wall might have them worried about how their peers view them. Think about a public Facebook wall post as similar to walking up and addressing them in a group of friends in the schoolyard.
Use Facebook’s private message function to send notes to your grandchildren to check in. This is more of a casual way to contact them than an e-mail; the lower pressure might make them more likely to open up and share what’s going on in their life.
Don’t overdo it. While you might want to write a comment on every picture in their photo albums and “like” all their recent activity, keep your presence on their profile somewhat limited. Teens might become embarrassed if you’re too prominently featured on their page.
Don’t be offended or upset if the don’t accept your friend request. As mentioned before, teens don’t consider Facebook as a cool new way to communicate with people they live far away from—it’s mainly a way to chat with current friends and further control their self-image in front of a peer group. It’s likely that they’re just worried you’ll accidently do something “uncool” on their page and upset this carefully crafted image.
Give it time. Facebook is continuing to expand and is becoming less of a young person’s tool. As the stigma of older people on Facebook fades into the background, and as your grandchildren become a bit older and less concerned about their Facebook image, they will become more communicative over this social network.