<p>hi, just trying to get the word out that there is a new group on facebook for USNA Parents (current and past welcome). Just login to Facebook and search USNA Parents. It's a closed group which means you must request to join. Thank you. :)</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>I don't know about anyone else but I am a bit creep-ed out by the whole idea of the 40+ crowd being on Facebook. Stalking the HS and College students does not seem very normal IMO. Even claiming that it is being used as a social network for USNA parents does not explain why you would want an account in the first place. My Mid would be horrified at the thought of his mom on Facebook. Question - how do you really think you can control who is "admitted" the the Group? If it is like the list serve let me tell you many of the Mids actually have listserv accounts so be prepared that you will get Mids trying and being successful in their attempt to join the group.</p>
<p>Why don't you set up a yahoo group?</p>
<p>I agree about not feeling right about being part of the Facebook scene. Isn't it just as creepy for Mids to try to join a parents' listserve? Why would they want to do it?</p>
<p>I agree with the above concerns, who would moderate it, how do you prove who someone is and what purpose would it serve? Also, how many different websites do you need to keep discussing the same topics? Reminds me of that old light bulb joke......</p>
<p>I do not yet have a facebook account but I am sure it is only a matter of time.</p>
<p>Facebook has evolved. Many of those earlier adopters have graduated from college, they are in the work force, they have married and have children. They did not cancel their facebook accounts when they left school, they were already accustomed to using them for keeping in touch with their friends and acquaintances. Instead of posting about how wasted they got they are posting and or blogging about babies' first steps, their latest vacation or job promotion. They are inviting their families (parents included) to join as a way to keep up with what's happening in their lives.</p>
<p>Facebook is, of course, encouraging this and actively marketing itself to the wide world. More users is more money in their pockets, more traffic increases the value of their products. </p>
<p>Coaches, school administrators, and prospective employers are all on facebook. Bands, entertainers and others use facebook as one of their marketing tools. Groups, such as the USNA group, like using it instead of Yahoo groups because of the versatility - it is easy to link to pictures, have blog entries, etc., all from the same home page. As for stalking your kids, if their profiles are set to "private" (which they should be) neither you nor any else will be able to see them without being invited.</p>
<p>Whether you choose to join a certain group on facebook or not you should recognize that it is not what it was four years ago. Most of you will eventually wind up with accounts on facebook or what ever the next iteration of it will be. Remember your parents early hesitance on having email accounts . . . now grandma and grandpa are emailing, posting on dropshots and blogging.</p>
<p>Many USMA parents have joined because the Officer's Christian Fellowship has been taking pics of our NCs and we can see the pictures if we "friend" the OCF chaplain's wife. I've found some great pics of my NC (soon to be plebe!!) on facebook.</p>
<p>I personally have no interest in operating a Facebook page. But it has been my own adult children, all 5 of them, that have asked me again and again to put up a page and they will invite me to join theirs. So last summer I did. They use their Facebook alot to post their photos, to share their latest escapades and even sometimes to chat online with me and each other. It reduces the repitition that would occur to say the same thing each time to each separate family member.</p>
<p>So now, I have their sites bookmarked and several times a week I check their pages. One has the new puppy photos, the mid-girl has her tri-athlon time-splits. One has the latest baby girl shots....another posted long-distance from an Israel trip.....</p>
<p>Facebook, like any other new-fangled invention, is a tool. One that can be abused, but used properly, is a helpful way for groups of people to share and communicate.</p>
<p>I personally don't upkeep my own page - but use it to launch into other sites.</p>
<p>All this being said. I would not be interested in joining a USNA Facebook group as I am swamped enough with 2 USNA-related forums PLUS the direct Parent-USNA list-serve sites. This amount can bring 100+ letters and comments every day to my desktop! So enough is enough for me.</p>
<p>flusna your observations are correct, many have kept their accounts and use Facebook to keep up with friends etc. Even my employer has a facebook community. The difference is they are not using the site to more or less stalk a younger set of users, they are using it to stay in contact with friends. I instant message with my Mid, I text message my Mid, but to go on Facebook and friend him IMO is over the top - what, just so you can see who and what is written on his wall? To keep up with his status, his profile. So this all starts innocently as getting a page to join this group - but I am sure it then will evolve in just another avenue to live through our kids, friending them, looking at their pictures, reading their walls, reading comments, seeing what groups they belong to, seeing who their friends are... This just smells of more helicoptering!</p>
<p>The comment about why a Mid would want to be on the listserv is very apparent - parents post lots of personal things about their Mids on the list serv, why do you think it is not supposed to be forwarded to Mids. The only way they can see what the Parent rumor mill is generating is through monitoring that site. How many helicopter sites do we need?</p>
<p>I agree with flusna; I work as a career counselor and have both facebook and myspace pages. I use my access as a tool for working with clients to show them what employers see when they search the internet. It has been an eye-opener, especially for some of my younger clients who seem the think they are invisible as well as invincible. </p>
<p>Do I post? No. Nor do I facebook friend my daughters. They know I have access and can check their sites; that seems to be enough to keep them from being completely stupid on their pages.</p>