I'm thinking about quitting Facebook. This isn't the first time I've considered it, but my addiction prevents me from going through with it. There are quite a few reasons why:
Facebook keeps changing its privacy settings. I'm getting tired of constantly having to reset them, check them, and reread the agreement. Recently, my sister posted something and pointed out that unless your friends change individual settings for each of their friends, they will see postings on other's posts. Ok, I know that's confusing, and I think Facebook makes it purposely confusing. But if I set my privacy to "only friends can see my posts", then it should stay that way! I don't want my friends' friends seeing what they said when they commented. For example, I might post "I had a great day at the beach!" and my friend Jane comments, "Was the water warm?". Now on Jane's friend Tom's newsfeed, it says, "Jane commented of Jennifer's post 'Was the water warm?' " I don't know Tom, so why should he see that? Because Tom has his settings for Jane to view comments, or something like that.
At least that's the way I've been told it works. And I don't really have the time or will to go through all the friends and limit what I see they post. I don't care anyway. I keep getting stuff on my homepage, my newsfeed that says so-and-so commented on this person's status. Why would I care about that? I don't know them! And so now I'm wondering how much of my own private stuff is showing up in others' newsfeeds. And from what I've been told, I can't change that, it has to be done by my friends!
Another reason I'm considering leaving is other postings by people (or friends). I'm a little tired of being preached at by do-gooders, religious wing-nuts and soapbox-standers. I do realize that Facebook is there for anyone to say what they want, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. But it's so in-your-face. And yes,, I'm guilty I'm sure of doing the same, and it makes me think who wants to hear it? 'Cause I don't. I have my blog, and that's what it's for. And a blog is different. If half the people on my friends list had blogs,I wouldn't be reading most of them, and that would be my choice. But on the newsfeed, it's right there, staring at you, yelling at you, in a way, and begging you to comment, which can get you into trouble.
Facebook has connected me with many people I lost touch with from high school and such, and while it's nice to hear from these people,there are some that I realize there was a reason behind that separation. Part of why I can't cut myself off from Facebook is that I'd miss some of the daily connections I make.
Lastly, I think I'm too addicted. I have a compulsion to check my iPad every few minutes when I'm home, or at least every hour. It's sick. And I'm pretty sure most of my status updates have people thinking, "Who cares?"
So I'm going to give it a try. Only the people who read this blog will know why I've gone missing. I hope that a certain someone (ROOH) will continue to update her blog, so I don't completely fall out of the loop! And I'm sure I'll check in once in awhile, so I don't miss any cute pictures of my nieces or nephew.
I'll give it a week. I don't think I'll last, to be honest. And if I don't, my next step is going to be culling the connections. I'm will cut back all but the people I interact with most, and goodbye to all those opinion-pushers.
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Internet Safety
Don't you think it's cool how you can go onto your blogger interface and see how people reach your blog? I just discovered this today, and saw that my post, Megamind Review was my most popular one! I can see that someone reached it by googling : Megamind Easter Bunny Queen of England. It's all very interesting how the internet works, and how one person can reach billions in the blink of an eye, and how nothing is private anymore either. One day, I'm sure, we'll be able to tell exactly who that person was that googled: Megamind Easter Bunny Queen of England, where they live, and what they look like, without having to be a hacker even! (Ummm, not that I would want to!)
As my boys are getting older, I find I'm having to delve into the whole world of internet privacy. I'm so glad that they reinforce it at school. This is an issue we were never faced with as children, and our parents didn't have to deal with. I'm still learning about it.
Recently, both my two got email accounts. L doesn't really care about it, because he loathes reading and especially writing, but I got it because they both wanted Moshi Monster accounts and I didn't want to give them my email addresses to use, and they both needed two separate emails. R is on the fence about it. I got his set up because a friend of ours (whose daughters used to come to my daycare before they moved) set her daughter up on Facebook. Being a 10 year old girl and much more social than my two boys, she was very excited about it. She and R have been friends since they were toddling naked around my kitchen (that's a story best saved for their wedding~hey! I have my dreams too!) and I figured that despite the over-an-hour driving distance between us now, they could find a way to stay in touch through email.
Of course, me being the internet addict and social networking freak of the family, I was at him to check his emails wanting to know if she had written back or not. After a while, he got tired of it. He was nowhere nearly as enthusiastic as I had expected or hoped he would be. I just don't understand it. Isn't it exciting to discover a new email in your inbox? Isn't the anticipation of a written message delightful? As a kid, I used to write letters to my grandparents. Getting that letter back in the mail was the best thing ever! Email is so much better! No two-week-long waits in between letters.
Ah, well. I guess it's a female thing.
But back to the internet privacy.
I had to warn them of course to not open spam, to not reply to people they don't know, or addresses they are unsure about. It was kind of an eye-opener. It showed me how much more they have to learn about it all, and made me realize how I need to maybe rethink my own internet safety. You know that I don't put their full names here. I try to keep them somewhat anonymous that way. I try to limit details about where exactly we live, and to not have too many pictures (if any) with their faces. I'm not exactly sure if that is effective at all with protecting them, and I'm not even sure what I might be protecting them from. I'm naive about this stuff but just following the lead of some other friends who also blog.
So all this made me pause to think the other day, when I sat down to sign all the millions of forms that came home from school. One of them was a consent to allow their pictures to be taken and names to be published. It had a long list of checkboxes, including one for if the media came to the school would we allow our children to be filmed or photographed? There was also one asking for permission to print their names and achievements in the school newsletter and on the school website.
That's where I stopped checking yes. If I don't want to print their full names here, where no one knows where we live (except my near and dearest readers), then would I or should I allow their names and pictures to be displayed for anyone to see where they can also see where they attend school? After thinking about it, I checked no. I'm far too much of a worry-wart, I know. But there are weirdos out there....
I'm sure I'm just being paranoid. I'm wondering what other blogging moms checked, or will check when that day comes?
As my boys are getting older, I find I'm having to delve into the whole world of internet privacy. I'm so glad that they reinforce it at school. This is an issue we were never faced with as children, and our parents didn't have to deal with. I'm still learning about it.
Recently, both my two got email accounts. L doesn't really care about it, because he loathes reading and especially writing, but I got it because they both wanted Moshi Monster accounts and I didn't want to give them my email addresses to use, and they both needed two separate emails. R is on the fence about it. I got his set up because a friend of ours (whose daughters used to come to my daycare before they moved) set her daughter up on Facebook. Being a 10 year old girl and much more social than my two boys, she was very excited about it. She and R have been friends since they were toddling naked around my kitchen (that's a story best saved for their wedding~hey! I have my dreams too!) and I figured that despite the over-an-hour driving distance between us now, they could find a way to stay in touch through email.
Of course, me being the internet addict and social networking freak of the family, I was at him to check his emails wanting to know if she had written back or not. After a while, he got tired of it. He was nowhere nearly as enthusiastic as I had expected or hoped he would be. I just don't understand it. Isn't it exciting to discover a new email in your inbox? Isn't the anticipation of a written message delightful? As a kid, I used to write letters to my grandparents. Getting that letter back in the mail was the best thing ever! Email is so much better! No two-week-long waits in between letters.
Ah, well. I guess it's a female thing.
But back to the internet privacy.
I had to warn them of course to not open spam, to not reply to people they don't know, or addresses they are unsure about. It was kind of an eye-opener. It showed me how much more they have to learn about it all, and made me realize how I need to maybe rethink my own internet safety. You know that I don't put their full names here. I try to keep them somewhat anonymous that way. I try to limit details about where exactly we live, and to not have too many pictures (if any) with their faces. I'm not exactly sure if that is effective at all with protecting them, and I'm not even sure what I might be protecting them from. I'm naive about this stuff but just following the lead of some other friends who also blog.
So all this made me pause to think the other day, when I sat down to sign all the millions of forms that came home from school. One of them was a consent to allow their pictures to be taken and names to be published. It had a long list of checkboxes, including one for if the media came to the school would we allow our children to be filmed or photographed? There was also one asking for permission to print their names and achievements in the school newsletter and on the school website.
That's where I stopped checking yes. If I don't want to print their full names here, where no one knows where we live (except my near and dearest readers), then would I or should I allow their names and pictures to be displayed for anyone to see where they can also see where they attend school? After thinking about it, I checked no. I'm far too much of a worry-wart, I know. But there are weirdos out there....
I'm sure I'm just being paranoid. I'm wondering what other blogging moms checked, or will check when that day comes?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
A Momentous Occasion
Today was another first in my journey of being a mom. Today, I let R walk to school, get this,.......
WITHOUT AN ADULT!!
Yikes!
He wasn't alone, he was with his best bud, E. But still, my stomach is, as we speak, in nervous knots wondering if he made it ok.
Once in a while, E (who is about six months older than R, so almost 9) will come to the door in the morning in order to walk to school with R. Much of the time, he walks "with" his older brother. I put with in quotes because really, his brother doesn't stay with him. He lags behind to talk to 12 year old girls from his grade and E usually trudges on by himself. Now E is quite mature for his age. I've always been impressed by his maturity since I met him a few years ago. DH says that maturity is due to hockey (rep hockey). Whatever. He's the kind of kid you wish your kid would be friends with. Which is why I'm so glad that he and R are best buds. I hope they remain that way for a long time. E is fiercely loyal to R, will stand up for him against others, and will stand up to anyone who pisses him off, but not in a bullyish way. Which is great.
Anyhow, E often walks home from school as well by himself. The thought of that still scares me, but comforts me too, as I know he is well used to the walk alone. It may be different if I sent two newbies out on their own. But that's not the case.
So this morning, DH was supposed to be driving my two to school, as L has a little presentation/display thing in the classroom this morning that parents are invited to, and DH doesn't have to be at his own school until 11 so he could go. Since E showed up this morning, I gave the two older boys the option of riding with DH, or walking on their own. It surprised me a little that R said he'd walk. He's always been a bit of a momma's boy, scared to be on his own for anything. And a secret part of me likes that. It means he's still my little boy.
It's with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes that I write this. My little boy is proving to me that kids do continue to grow up, whether you want them to or not. And I'm proud of him. And scared for him too. I made DH promise he's check to make sure that R arrived safely when he got to school with L. I haven't heard anything yet (which is typical of DH, to let me worry) but then, no news is good news. Right? Right?
RIGHT???
WITHOUT AN ADULT!!
Yikes!
He wasn't alone, he was with his best bud, E. But still, my stomach is, as we speak, in nervous knots wondering if he made it ok.
Once in a while, E (who is about six months older than R, so almost 9) will come to the door in the morning in order to walk to school with R. Much of the time, he walks "with" his older brother. I put with in quotes because really, his brother doesn't stay with him. He lags behind to talk to 12 year old girls from his grade and E usually trudges on by himself. Now E is quite mature for his age. I've always been impressed by his maturity since I met him a few years ago. DH says that maturity is due to hockey (rep hockey). Whatever. He's the kind of kid you wish your kid would be friends with. Which is why I'm so glad that he and R are best buds. I hope they remain that way for a long time. E is fiercely loyal to R, will stand up for him against others, and will stand up to anyone who pisses him off, but not in a bullyish way. Which is great.
Anyhow, E often walks home from school as well by himself. The thought of that still scares me, but comforts me too, as I know he is well used to the walk alone. It may be different if I sent two newbies out on their own. But that's not the case.
So this morning, DH was supposed to be driving my two to school, as L has a little presentation/display thing in the classroom this morning that parents are invited to, and DH doesn't have to be at his own school until 11 so he could go. Since E showed up this morning, I gave the two older boys the option of riding with DH, or walking on their own. It surprised me a little that R said he'd walk. He's always been a bit of a momma's boy, scared to be on his own for anything. And a secret part of me likes that. It means he's still my little boy.
It's with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes that I write this. My little boy is proving to me that kids do continue to grow up, whether you want them to or not. And I'm proud of him. And scared for him too. I made DH promise he's check to make sure that R arrived safely when he got to school with L. I haven't heard anything yet (which is typical of DH, to let me worry) but then, no news is good news. Right? Right?
RIGHT???
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