By Rebekah Burrow
Facebook. A Web site once dominated by teens and college kids is now being brutally taken over by adults.
The number of adults ages 35 to 54 — think your parents — who use Facebook has been doubling about every two months. Teens fear their parents or teacher will want to friend them and make them seem “un-cool” to all their friends. Either that or they don’t want them to know what they say to their friends when there aren’t any adults around.
But are they really here to make teens seem un-cool to everyone else? No.
Some adults don’t even want to friend their children or students for the same reason their kids don’t want to be their friend. Each side wants some secrets.
Erin Leavey and Jessica Rickard, teachers from California and Florida respectively, both have Facebook pages. On them, they blabber about everything they do and who they’re friends with.
Rickard admits to spending way too much time on Facebook and using the many applications. Some of her favorite apps are Mafia Wars, Sorority Life and Pieces of Flair. Flair is an app that a bunch of random buttons saying different phrases, her favorite of which reads, “Shh… I’m cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.”
But she has a social networking line she draws with students.
“My students can friend me on Myspace, not on Facebook though,” Rickard said.
Student Claire Busby’s eyes widened when asked if her parents were on Facebook. Hadn’t considered it. Fear rose to the surface. She briefly looked at the girl sitting next to her. Clutching her camera, she began to open her mouth.
“No,” she said her voice slightly strained, eyes darting around the room.
Teens everywhere can share her nervousness. No one wants to be friends with their parents on Facebook — most likely not their teacher either. And maybe parents don’t want to be their kids Facebook friend either.
However, there is one thing that nobody can deny. Adults are taking over Facebook. And now it looks like they are here to stay.
Rebekah Burrow is a junior at Notre Dame de Sion and a student in the advanced writing class at the Flint Hills Publication Workshop.
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