Stop Poking Me Granny

I read an arcicle in this week's AdAge titled Is Facebook Getting Uncool for the 18-24 Year Old?
It quoted a statistic that 51% of 18-24 year olds surveyed by Mindshare indicated Facebook and Social Media dilutes the quality of friendships.

So, the 18-24 year old, who was initially a core Facebook user is utilizing the site less. Now their little brothers and sisters are using the site more. Because the tweens and teens are on, mom and dad need to monitor what they are saying and doing. So 35-54 is a growing demographic. And now even Granny is on Facebook playing Farmville and Kidnapped and posting comments about pictures. While it's bad enough that mom might comment, it would be social suicide to have Grandma post a comment of a picture taken at a college party.

Mom and Granny should pay more attention to the 9-17 year olds and their Facebook posts. Just like the 18-24 year olds tweens and teens view the number of friends they have accumulated on Facebook to be a measurement of their popularity. Hopefully, like the 18-24 year olds before them, they will grow to realize that if you don't communicate with your friends, they are just faces in a crowd and not friends. Perhaps this generation will come to realize Facebook doesn't replace human contact. It's more satisfying to actually hang out with friends then IM or text them. Perhaps they will realize Facebook is great for connecting with friends and family who are too far away to connect with in person. They will pare down the friend list and be able to spend time with Granny so she will no longer need to poke them.