While skimming the web I ran across an article titled, “Youngsters not happy oldies going online.” I had not even read the article when I then came across a poll, “Where’s the Facebook line?“

Both discussed teens and twentysomethings not liking older adults and relatives wanting to connect on MySpace, Facebooks and similar sites. Here is a quote from ShinyShiny

“This is apparently an increasingly common issue, as those who are old enough to know better get in on social networking.”

This flawed perspective plagued both articles, because the people who know better are the ones who created the technology. However, that is not the focus of this Digital Perspective item.

The issues here are integrity and maturity. The more you have, the less friend requests will drive you mad. Who wants to be your friend becomes less of an issue. Even more, when you have high levels of integrity everyone knows you really are, good or bad and you are fine with it.

You cannot be an angel to your family and a devil that shows XXX pictures on your MySpace and Facebook pages with your cameraphone. It is better to accept people seeing you drunk or learning how to handle your liquor.

On the flipside, if you are ashamed of your family or you think your family will do something embarrassing, you have probably embarrassed yourself and your family with the pictures or comments you are hiding.

In addition, there must be a lapse in how you are presenting yourself somewhere, if your family members even think it is okay to contact you. The sooner you stop presenting a fabricated personal image of yourself, the sooner friend requests stop bothering you.