6 Reasons You Should Accept Your Parents Facebook Friend Request

By Katie Funk

• Become Their Favorite

To Parents, being given access to your Facebook profile is like being allowed into the secret World of the Cool Kids. They really just want to feel that they have some sort of an idea of what you’re doing on a daily basis.  When you accept their request, your parents will feel loved and included, resulting in a more trusting relationship.  In the end, adding your parents to your list of friends lands you with more freedom and maybe even the car for the weekend.

• If They Friend You, It Is Fair To Assume They Are Prepared

Many parents refrain from friend requesting their kid simply because they just don’t want to know. They are happy living in the dark, still believing you can do no wrong. So, when my mom friend requested me, I interpreted it as her being ready to learn the truth about the teenager she raised. The friend request alone was a sign that my parent was ready for the content to come.

• Limit What They See Using Privacy Settings

If you still don’t feel that you want to let your mom and dad into the gory details of your Facebook profile, including that picture of you on spring break last year, don’t fret. Facebook has allowed for its users to enforce privacy settings for specific persons, enabling you to grant your parent only limited access to your profile. You can avoid the repercussions of rejecting your parent while still being able to upload and post what you like worry-free.

• Accepting Mom & Dad Helps You Maintain An Appropriate Profile

As social media is used more and more for professional matters, keeping a presentable profile is becoming extremely important. Knowing that your parent can see the material on your Facebook profile makes you think twice about releasing any vastly inappropriate pictures or posts into cyberspace. So, if you are friends with your parents and a potential boss checks you out online, he will be less likely to find any disturbing material that could hurt your chances of landing that big job.

• Less Nagging

When my parents figured out the mysterious world of texting, the urge to just “check in” on me increased dramatically. I would get “hi –mom” at least once a day. But, once we became friends on Facebook, I found her doing this less often. My parents feel more in touch with my daily life by looking at my profile or reading my latest status update, resulting in less unanswered texts form their daughter and more hassle-free time for me. Everyone wins.

• It Is Bound to Happen Sooner Or Later

Do you really think it’s realistic for you to continue rejecting your parents’ friend requests forever? You are eventually going to reach the point when you get tired of the desperation in your socially deprived parents’ eyes and allow them the simple pleasure of viewing your profile.  You might as well get it over with now and just click confirm.

Now, before you jump into a Facebook relationship with your parents, you should consider establishing some ground rules.  For example, under no circumstances may either of my parents request any of my friends without checking with me first.  This is to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment.  Also, I have made it clear that although we are technically friends, the relationship is strictly for observational purposes only—no commenting please. I realize these are relatively harsh, so establish your own ground rules accordingly.  Good Luck.

Related articles

• “Mom, I Love You. But Please Don’t Friend Me on Facebook.” (psychologytoday.com)
• Facebook: communication outlet for college parents (jou2100.wordpress.com)
• keep Friends Close, all others discard (spreadinformation.wordpress.com)