My Mom is a Facebook Stalker

Moms on FacebookI had to break the news to my little brother the other day: my mom was stalking him on Facebook. I talked to her on the phone and heard all the juicy gossip; what he was doing, what he was wearing, what he looked like, when he was coming into town, and what an idiot he looked like dancing while under the influence.

My brother wasn’t surprised, but realized that he had made his mistake too early. The hidden dilemma lies in  the fact that my Mom only has six Facebook friends, so a a delete from her youngest son would probably “Ruin her Life” for approximately a week or so. My mom is also pretty observant and my brother is less than stealthy, so a little Privacy switcho-change-o would not go unnoticed.

I doubt my Mom is the only Facebook stalker of a certain age seeking out information about her progeny. In fact, there’s a new web site online dedicated to embarrassing Facebook moments caused by parents.

Some great examples include a photo tagged: “Michael in a tutu” with a cute 3-year-old boy in a tutu, a  post from a “helpful” Dad answering a wall post for his daughter (I think I’d kick ass for this one), or one mom’s friendly note: “Thanks for the Facebook training. I now know how to check your status. Was there a particular day you wanted me to look at?”

Now there is even an Ehow Article detailing what to do in the unfortunate event that your mom should add you to Facebook. The article advises you to accept your mom, but let her know in advance that you are going to delete her comments and then possibly add her to your “Top Friends” list to boost her ego.

I’m sorry, Ehow article writer, I am not too impressed with your advice, which  I think totally sucks. First, if you accept your mom as your Facebook friend which I would not advise, you should limit her ability to view your profile, as opposed to telling her she is free to write on your wall as long as she realizes that her comments will then be deleted. Also, do you really want to boost your mom’s ego by having her in your “Top Friends” list or will this make her feel really bad as she realizes that you have your top out of 453 friends listed while she only has six friends?