I understand it’s a technological age, and that’s cool because as a young generation, we’re able to catch onto all the advances; our younger brains adapt to new technologies because we’re growing up with them. Texting, Facebook, smart phones -- it’s pretty easy for us to master it all, but what happens when our parents start catching on?

The Hilltop

Aleesa Mann

Surprise was definitely the word. How did my mom, who hasn’t mastered the art of texting, figure out how to sign up on Facebook, create an account, find me and send me a message?

I guess it’s a smart move on her part. If you can’t catch me on my phone, Facebook is definitely the second best option. But, and maybe it’s just me, having my parents look at my Facebook is like the equivalent of them reading my diary.

In that same “I’m-asserting-myself” way, Facebook is a place where I can create my own little world away from my parents and establish my individuality without parental control.

I can imagine the phone calls I would get if I actually friended my mom and she went through all my albums and wall posts. “What are you wearing?” “Is that safe!?” “Watch your language!” “Who are those BOYS?!”

Some worlds you know you need to keep separate.

The last thing I want to see is a photo album of my mom going to Jack & Jill meetings, shopping at Ann Taylor with “the gurls” or posing next to a row of bathroom fixtures she’s thinking about buying at Costco. Having a Facebook is just another one of  the million and one ways my mom can embarrass me, and that’s the only reason she would get one.

She’d make wall posts like, “I made your doctor's appointment for Wednesday; the doctor said that rash is probably no big deal,” and “I’m looking at some cute jeans from the Gap for you… You’re a size 8, right? Remember the last time you tried on a size 4, and it was too small!! LOL.”

My mom getting a Facebook is like her attempting Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” dance or buying skinny jeans from Forever 21. I don’t want to see that. You don’t want to see that either.

So hopefully, this one message will be the beginning and the end of her foray into the Facebook realm. For the benefit of mankind and the sanctity of my reputation, I can only pray it is.

But perhaps I’m just being old school. I know plenty of my friends whose parents have a Facebook, and they seem to be faring pretty well (not having not been blacklisted to the category of social pariah, and all).And I can’t blame my mom for trying to keep up with the trends; although, more often than not, it seems parental approval can be the kiss of death for most trends. (Think moms who call themselves “cool” and dads that say “phat.”)

So, does the co-mingling of parents and Facebook signal the end of an era, or just the beginning?

Aleesa Mann writes for The Hilltop, the Howard University student newspaper, which originally published this article.

Articles in the Voices section represent the opinions of the individual writers and do not reflect the views of Black College Wire.