Parents and children - Facebook friends?

I think that it is up to the children to decide whether they are comfortable or embarrassed by their parents' friendships on facebook. Discuss it with your children and see what they say. I personally am friends with my mother on facebook because when I went away to college we wanted a way for her to keep track of what I was doing and see my photos etc. Still, I was older, so it did not bother me. It is really up to the children to decide. Good luck.

While I'm 25 now and not really a teen anymore, I think it's totally ok for a parent to be facebook friends with their teen children. If facebook had been around when I was in high school, I definitely would have allowed my parents to friend me. In fact, it would have been a lot easier to let them know what was going on in my life when they could have just clicked a link and checked for themselves. Now that I've moved away and don't see them often and cannot communicate with them on the phone all the time, it's been a great way to keep in touch without the outrageous phone bill. The plus would have been that if facebook were around back in my high school days, I wouldn't have had to spend almost a week before moving teaching my parents how to use facebook! haha Also, my parents have friended my friends too and I think it's great! I love that all the important people in my life are connected.

I guess this answer really depends on the motivation of you, the parent. If you are trying to see their profile to "spy" on them by calling yourself someone esle or something like that, then no. If that is the case, you should really talk to your child, because if they ever find out what you did, it will broaden any gap between you.But, if you are trying to be close to your child, and they are ok with that, then go ahead. As far as a limited profile, you wont see a lot of things like some wall posts or pictures ( which is the bulk of the content parents are interested in).While my parents arent my Facebook friends, they are friends with me (im 22) and my little brother (16) on MySpace , and he doesnt have Facebook. Our parents trust both of us, and we have a great relationship!

Hope that helps....

Mmm it depends on the parent. Parent's (or those over the age of 33) joining facebook is kind of creepy. I've seen quite  few older people on facebook and I stand clear of avoiding them. It makes me feel uncomfortable with them joining the site because you never know what kind of sicko's are out there. However, I do know a few older people who have joined facebook and located old grade school friends from their time on the website, so it's good for finding old friends. It depends on you purpose of joining. But don't go around asking a bunch of teenagers and young adults to add you to their "friend's list". That's creepy.

I am in my mid 30's and while my kids are not yet of the age to use or express any interest in this sort of communication media, I have to agree with the one poster whom expressed feelings of creepiness to it all.  Routine face-to-face communication with your children -from the beginning- is the best way to let your children know you are there for them.  Routine face-to-face communication in a family is also usually the best deterrent for many unwanted behaviors most of which are simply bad choices.  Most childhood disorders and anti-social behaviors such as depression, anxiety, obesity, bulemia, anorexia etc. are products of communication breakdowns in the home.  If you are old enough to have teenage children then you are too old for these websites, and in my opinion, people my age joining these sites to watch teenagers are up to no good:  whether it is overbearing meddling, or overcompensation for a lack of face-to-face communication, or outright inappropiate behavior on the adults part.  Teenagers need their own space and time to find their identities in their own way and if we stand side-by-side with them at home with regular reliable face-to-face communication with parents and family members they will usually make better choices in their journey toward friend finding and their best identity.