<p>I know this has been discussed before, but, really, WHAT are these kids thinking when they write very personal blogs and post them online??</p>
<p>My best friend's family has been thrown into turmoil over these stupid blogs.</p>
<p>Warn your kids to get smart. Not everything a teenager writes, thinks, or does belongs on the internet. Remember when you were a kid? How embarassing!!!</p>
<p>I think some aren't thinking -- others want to share their life with friends they may not see often, or their online buddies. Others just want e-fame.</p>
<p>Sadly, a lot of them aren't safe about it either -- which is why I hate MySpace. Pictures and all that personal information shouldn't be that easy to get. It should be restricted (Facebook) or optional just how much information is put out there (Livejournal).</p>
<p>I do it for the latter -- but I use the "friends lock" button very liberally, and only on my own personal laptop. Back when I was a freshman in high school, my dad found it and read it for several months, finally using some of the information in a fight we had. </p>
<p>If they go out looking for them or keep reading, whatever "turmoil" they are in by knowing their kids thoughts or what their kid is doing is deserved by them. But, then again, I don't think a parent should be touching that, period (no matter how accessable online).</p>
<p>Screename-</p>
<p>I would just love to see how your tune will change when you're 40.</p>
<p>With age comes perspective. With perspective comes wisdom.</p>
<p>I dislike the notion of parents looking at notebooks stored in their kids' rooms without reason since there is a reasonable expectation that what you put in your desk drawer is private. </p>
<p>No one should ever have the expectation that anything posted on the internet is private, so I don't see why parents should feel obligated to treat online postings as such.</p>
<p>We learned early on how problematic the web can be for kids. My S set up a website in middle school (about 6 years ago) and found this cool software that allowed 'graffiti' and a message board. He didn't post anything personal, but he let friends know about it and they let their friends and so on...it was nastier than I ever thought kids could be. It came down quickly, but not without all of our feelings being hurt.</p>
<p>Scottaa: You're probably right -- but then again, my mother screamed at my father when she found out, especially when I explained how the "friends-lock" and "private" features work. She never forgave her mother for reading her diary, and never looked at anything of mine.</p>
<p>So long as my kids don't give me a reason to snoop, I'd rather keep the lines of communication open with them then lose their trust entirely. (There are always exceptions -- mine would be drugs, and any form of bullying)</p>
<p>With age also comes senility ;)</p>
<p>beck86nj: Assuming it's one of the journaling websites there are features that make these entries "private" (only viewable to the writer when logged in) and "friends-only" (only viewable to the writer and a select group of white-listed accounts while logged in), then there's some expectation of privacy. In my case, my dad guessed my password, which was stupid of me, but not cool of him.</p>
<p>Screenname: yes, in such a case there is some expectation of privacy. I've also known plenty of kids who made no use of such features (or posted where such features were not available) and still felt that their parents should never view their posts, which was the case I was talking about.</p>
<p>kids just want attention, and most of them never expect their parents will find their blogs. it's just a different way of keeping in touch with friends, and maybe they're able to say on the internet what is harder to say in person. it sounds like the parents who are freaking out over the blogs are angrier about finding out their kid's feelings are posted online than about what the kids actually feel, so maybe those parents need to work on communication in their families if they have to read a blog to find out what's going on in their kid's life. or if it's a case that they kid posted something their parents didnt want other people to know ("my dad just lost his job," etc) then the parents should tell their kids this rather than getting angry about the kid's natural way of reaching out. (and yes, using the internet is a 'natural' thing for our generation.)
and as for the parent who thinks our opinions will change when we are older - there are thousands of 40 year olds who post personal information on blogs, and when i'm 40 i hope my kid talks to me instead of me having to snoop around on his computer.</p>
<p>Obvious solution: I never say anything on my blog in a public entry that I wouldn't be comfortable with a parent reading!</p>
<p>My (small) town was thrown into quite an uproar my freshman year in college when a friend posted information about her drug use on her blog and all the nosy nellies passed around the URL and made a huge fuss in public about it. So nothing private without a friends-lock for me, thank you -- my entire hometown is probably reading, waiting for any bad behavior!</p>
<p>I'm curious as to whether or not there is any limit to what seems like an "anything goes" attitude toward posting whatever people want to post on their personal webspace.</p>
<p>How about if someone takes a picture of you without your knowledge and then posts it on their webspace? Is it okay if it's a flattering picture? How about if it's unflattering? What if it's embarrassing? Or compromising? And is it also okay for others to copy these pictures and then email them around to others?</p>
<p>How about if people post information about you that is embarrassing or untrue or just something you'd rather not have shared with the world? </p>
<p>To me, the question of what someone chooses to share with the world about themselves on the Internet is their choice--a choice they may or may not live to regret but theirs to make nonetheless. I strongly object to people sharing information about others with the world without permission--and it happens all the time. Pictures of my daughter have popped up all over MySpace and other webspaces. She's very social and has a lot of friends who use MySpace and such places liberally. Fortunately, none of the pictures are objectionable, but I hate it. I don't like the idea that someone can snap a picture of another person with a cell phone and then put it on the Internet. Maybe that's just me, but I think writing about and posting pictures of other people without their permission is an invasion of privacy.</p>