My Stepdaughter is Now on Facebook...I Don't Know if That's a Good Thing

United States
August 4, 2017 11:52pm CST
Today when I logged onto Facebook, the first thing I saw was my stepdaughter's face staring back at me as "someone you may know." I guess her aunt and uncle must have decided that now that she's in high school, she's old enough to be on social media. I don't know how I feel about this honestly. I don't really like it when underage kids are on Facebook and I typically won't add them. I used to add underage relatives but now I don't. Had too many issues with 11-year-olds mouthing off to me because they don't agree with stuff I post or because my religious or political views weren't the same as theirs. I won't tolerate that crap from adults, never mind from a snot-nosed kid. And all of the underage family members I had added liked to act too big for their britches once they got online. I remember one of my boyfriend's younger cousins cussed me out for not being a Christian once (what a Christian thing to do!) so he got deleted. Too many kids don't have respect for adults on social media. (Too many people don't have respect for each other on social media, for that matter.) Not that I'm saying my stepdaughter would do that, but it does make me uncomfortable knowing that if I add her that she could see things in her newsfeed that I wouldn't necessarily want her to see. I have a lot of raunchy friends and I already have to ignore a lot of posts I would normally respond to because of the way Facebook is now. I don't like it when something I commented on shows up in everybody else's newsfeed. I'm sure Great Aunt Betty loves seeing the naughty joke my friend posted because I happened to laugh at it. I know there's ways to limit what other people can see, but I'm not sure how reliable that is because my mom apparently sees EVERYTHING. I am forever getting confronted by her over things my friends post because I liked it or commented on it and she saw it. So I'm not really comfortable knowing that if my stepdaughter gets added to my friends list, she could see these things. I also don't like having to censor myself because now there's a kid in the mix. And I don't know how wise it is to even let teenagers use social media, since so many of them abuse it. She has disabilities and that could make her a target for bullying. I'm sure her aunt and uncle probably took all of this into consideration and decided she was responsible enough to handle it, but it still makes me uncomfortable. Not that what I think matters. So now I'm in the weird position of not knowing whether I should send her a friend request or wait and see if she sends me one. She hasn't sent one to her father yet either, but she is already friends with her aunt and uncle. It will upset both of us if we see she's friends with other family members without adding us. She has added a bunch of other adults in her social circle, and it is a bit hurtful wondering why her dad and I aren't among them. Even though I don't know if I even want to be Facebook friends with her to begin with. Sigh. Remember the old days when things like this weren't ever a problem? All social media does is complicate family relationships. I wish underage kids would stay off it.
8 people like this
7 responses
• United States
5 Aug 17
I'm underage and I love FB. If you don't want her to see your posts, add her and hide certain posts from her. You could do so in a post's privacy settings. I hide stuff from my brother all the time. I tried to avoid him finding me on FB before, but that didn't last long. So I just decided to hide certain posts from him. As for religious/political views, anyone of any age could be a d*ck about that. Lots of young people don't have respect anymore, but I ignore the ones who don't.
2 people like this
• United States
8 Aug 17
@Girlfromtheworld I guess it's just a different world than the one I grew up in. We didn't have the internet when I was a kid, and it was really just starting to take off when I was a teen, but there was no social media. Teens did go in chat rooms and message forums though. Some of my long-time friends were underage when I met them online when I was 18, so I guess it really is nothing new. But it seems like people behave more poorly online nowadays, probably because now everyone pretty much has access to social media when before not everyone was online. Now you've got idiots who think because they're on Facebook that they're some kind of celebrity (I know a lot of trashy people who live in the ghetto who act like that, and they are incredibly rude and are always cussing people out) and a lot of older people online too who don't know how to use it...I mean my great aunts are on Facebook, and my boyfriend's crazy drunk dad just joined. I wouldn't want my teenage stepdaughter interacting with him! I don't even want to interact with him. LOL
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
True, I do often hide posts from certain people, but I'm not sure if things I like or comment on that would be inappropriate for her to see might still show up in her newsfeed. I hate how posts pop up in your newsfeed now just because a friend happened to like it or commented on it. You are right about anyone of any age being a jerk about religion and politics. But my boyfriend's underage cousins cussed me out over it, which I did not appreciate. It's bad enough when adults are disrespectful about those things, but it seems even more disrespectful when it comes from a kid. I think lots of people in general don't have respect anymore. They feel free to be rude and say things they wouldn't say in person when they're hiding behind their keyboard.
1 person likes this
• United States
7 Aug 17
@Srbageldog yeah. Even I'm more honest online, but I'm not rude to people without a reason. Young people today do need to have more respect, but I guess they'll learn later in life. I don't think that teens shouldn't be allowed in social media though. Its kind of a way to vent all of your stress. At least that's how I find it. Ignore idiotic people. They'll never benefit from it anyway
1 person likes this
@dollaboy (6048)
5 Aug 17
I think Facebook shouldn't allow kids or those who who are not adults there as it won't help them any
2 people like this
• United States
5 Aug 17
I agree. I think people should have to be at least 18 to join...but it's not like the 13 years of age limit has stopped people lying and joining anyway. A lot of times kids lie about their age.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
@dollaboy True. That's not a bad idea but I bet a lot of people would be against it because they'd think it's an invasion of privacy or some nonsense.
1 person likes this
@dollaboy (6048)
5 Aug 17
@Srbageldog but they can have option of update your Id first to confirm there age
1 person likes this
@Courtlynn (67080)
• United States
5 Aug 17
Most my age (25) had social media at her age. Actually even before that, in middle school (6th-8th grade / 11/13 years old for me) As AIM (instant messenger), chatrooms, and myspace were the thing lol. But i get it.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
The internet wasn't a household thing when I was a teenager, so we didn't have it. Although I guess some did. But I never had to deal with any of that stuff until I was 18 and older. And social media didn't exist back then, not like it is now. Like you said, it was AIM, chat rooms, and message boards.
@Courtlynn (67080)
• United States
5 Aug 17
@Srbageldog myspace was facebook before facebook was. I loved it and miss it as you could edit your page however you liked with a background, song that playedbwhen peopke went on your page, top 8 friemds list etc. Lol. We had internet. Especially since needed it for homework someyimes
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
@Courtlynn MySpace didn't exist until I was already in college. I liked it a lot better than facebook but now it's not user friendly and all the things I loved about it are long gone. I actually met my boyfriend on MySpace when I was 23... Damn, that was 10 years ago!
1 person likes this
@kobesbuddy (78871)
• East Tawas, Michigan
5 Aug 17
My granddaughter was 13 when she was able to sign up on Facebook.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
I believe 13 is the minimum age for people to join Facebook.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
@kobesbuddy My stepdaughter is 15, soon to be 16, and I feel she is far too young too. She is not very mature for her age (she has some developmental delays) and I wish her guardians had waited until she was at least a junior in high school before letting her use social media.
@kobesbuddy (78871)
• East Tawas, Michigan
5 Aug 17
@Srbageldog Yes, but in Kaitlyn's case, I believe it was far too young!:(
1 person likes this
@vsai2008 (11796)
• India
5 Aug 17
How did facebook allow a kid to have an account, not good I think
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
She's 15, and the minimum age to join is 13 I believe. But I have known kids as young as 9 who were on Facebook. They just lie about their ages.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
@vsai2008 I agree, but when their parents let them join, what can you do? :/
1 person likes this
@vsai2008 (11796)
• India
5 Aug 17
@Srbageldog Oh okay, but 9 is too young, they shouldn't be allowed at any cost
1 person likes this
@Neiltarquin (1062)
• Rass, Saudi Arabia
8 Aug 17
Facebook was meant to be for all ages because the main purpose of this is to connect people. Abusive people who are posting indecent materials and showing unethical conduct are the one should be banned. I have spoken...
1 person likes this
• United States
9 Aug 17
It was actually originally intended only for college students, but it expanded to be for the open public...although there is a minimum age of 13 to join. I do agree that people posting indecent materials and behaving badly should be banned! I always report nasty posts but most the time Facebook doesn't do anything about it.
1 person likes this
• United States
9 Aug 17
@Neiltarquin It's a shame. Sometimes if you leave feedback for how they handle it and admonish them for saying indecent material "doesn't violate their community standards," they will later revise their decision and remove the post. I've done that a few times.
1 person likes this
• Rass, Saudi Arabia
9 Aug 17
@Srbageldog Yup, The Facebook.... I also do that, unfortunately reporting doesn't do anything.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472060)
• Switzerland
5 Aug 17
I agree with you about Facebook, I would not let an underage kid open an account, there are too many hateful people on that site.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472060)
• Switzerland
5 Aug 17
@Srbageldog This is the problem with the social media, most of those who are there to read, are people who want to offend.
1 person likes this
• United States
5 Aug 17
I don't even like interacting with people I don't know well because no matter what, hateful people always like to comment and spout off their opinions.
1 person likes this