Facebook Enhances Thirty Something's Lives

On the Today Show this morning, I happened to catch a segment about Facebook that was focused on how kids and parents can mutually share the social networking space, even though the last thing a teenager wants is to have their parents looking over their shoulders. Oddly enough, the mother in the piece did not want to spy on her kids, she just wanted to stay connected with her friends. In fact, she really did not want her children to know that she was on Facebook, but she popped up on the "People You May Know" space on her kids' home pages. So far, one of her children will not 'friend' her, and the one who did, limits her access to their profile. And so it goes.

What I found interesting is that one social platform can really work for all because the bottom line is that we all want a way to connect with our friends.

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Brandee Barker, Director of Communications for Facebook, states that the thirty something demographic on Facebook has increased 200% over the last year. Being a thirty something myself, I can see this increase every time I log in. When I joined in 2007, Facebook was limited to college students and you needed to have a college email address to join. I happened to have one because I was taking classes through the UW. Now that the social network is open to everyone regardless of college status, I see friends from high school and college pop up constantly and they all wonder why it took them so long to sign up. Plus, as more people around my age have and/or plan their 20-year high school reunions, the numbers ramp up quickly.

If you want more information about Facebook, and this delicate dance of sharing the world wide web with more than just your peers, check out Lisa Belkin's Motherlode blog on the New York Times website or read her piece about Faceook - "When your kid won't 'friend' you - A look at how parents and kids coexist awkwardly on Facebook.