To Confirm This Friend Request...

ZO...M...G

So I'm on Facebook. And it's sooo much better than MySpace: cleaner look, no spam friend requests, and just a more secure feel in general. This perfect combination is probably why someone told not just my sister and parents to get on Facebook, but also my aunts, uncles, and even Grandma.

Which, overall, is tooootally fine. My parents have mellowed nicely with age (I've heard them when they drink and get all sharp witted. Where where these people when I was growing up?). My Aunts and Uncles are pretty cool as well.

But Grandma...? I'll admit it, when I was sent that "******** has suggested you add Grandma as a friend, click this link to confirm you know Grandma" I was a little concerned. I don't care how well adjusted you may be, chances are good that some things you post (or have had posted) on your Facebook, may not be something you want Granny to read.

Now I Twitter some hilarious postings for My Status(other people's words, not just mine), and normally post funny comments for other people's walls/pictures. However, every so often I'll work blue and drop the F-Bomb in a status update. Or I'll have friends randomly post the word "PENIS!," or more recently post results to "Which Sex Position Are You?" So the last thing I want Grandma to see is how smutty my friends and I can be.

So being a terrible grandson (and I likely will be reminded of this come judgement day) I figured since she didn't actually request me specifically I could just leave her in Request Limbo and no one would be the wiser. This worked beautifully for two days... then my mother posted (in response to a comment I left) "Yeah even your grandmother is on here now!" At that point I couldn't feign ignorance any longer and I panicked more than a prom queen with a late period.

Thankfully, a kind soul pointed me in the direction of Limited Profiles. And people... let me tell you limited profiles are a beautiful thing.

Basically you assign the person(s) of your choice to a list and can alter your privacy settings so they can only view specific portions of your account. So, let us say if your friends are always posting "Dude you were soooo wasted last night" on your wall, you can click a button and keep people on that list from ever seeing any written postings from your wall. Or if someone decided to tag you while you were mooning a police officer on a dare , a check mark blocks them from seeing any tagged photos. And with these simple steps, the angelic image you worked hard cultivating for a specific group of people remains untarnished. After all, those people will be putting in a good word for you with St. Peter.

So even though I probably over-thought the process (I mean everyone was a kid at one point), for now I'll feel much more comfortable with this setup, and I'm fairly certain she will too. And who knows? In time maybe I'll loosen up and let Grandma have free reign of my profile.

My blog on the other hand... Sorry Grandma, You're on your own with that one.