It is with great interest that I just read Stan Schroeder’s post on Facebook‘s New Terms of Service. (See related link here.) As a parent, I’m concerned. Are you?

I’m not an alarmist. I don’t get weirded out by Big Brother. I don’t feel the need to react when people say the sky is falling. And while I still don’t think the sky is falling, I do think parents should be paying attention. Here’s why:

Now, anything you upload to Facebook can be used by Facebook in any way they deem fit, forever, no matter what you do later. Want to close your account? Good for you, but Facebook still has the right to do whatever it wants with your old content. They can even sublicense it if they want.

Not only is this conversation about intellectual property (and that’s a huge conversation that no doubt will be covered in many places), but it’s also an important conversation for parents to listen to and participate in! Here’s just one small example.

Kids’ Photos

Are you posting photos of your kids on your Facebook page? Are they posting photos of themselves on their own accounts? How many of their friends are posting photos of your child/children? Now all those photos can be sold however Facebook sees fit. For however long they want. To whomever they deem fit.

Be careful what you post!

Of course there are many other reasons parents should be paying attention to what their children are doing online.

So what about you? If you’re a parent on Facebook, what conversations have you had with your children? What guidelines do you have in place? What questions do you have? Leave your comment and strengthen the conversation.