Experience. Results. Compassion.

How do step-parents or children define family on Facebook?

On Behalf of | Apr 24, 2012 | Family Law

There can be a lot of uncertainty when more than one Colorado family combines into one unit. A son may gain a stepmother, and a father may gain a stepdaughter. How will things go? What will the family dynamics be like? Will everyone get along?

There are also some minor situations, even fairly trivial ones, that may give a person pause as they ask themselves, “How do I define my family?” The Huffington Post discusses an interesting scenario in a recent article. How should someone classify a stepparent or stepchild on their Facebook profile?

Interestingly, on Facebook there is not a “stepparent” or “stepchild” option. A parent can define themselves as a “mother” or “father” and a child can define themselves as a “son” or “daughter.” So what do people do in that situation?

There are only so many options. A child can list a stepmother as a mother, which can show all parents involved that it’s possible to love more than mother figure or father figure.

On the other hand, many children would likely ignore the conundrum altogether and not list their stepparent as anything on their Facebook profile. This, of course, could seem somewhat hurtful to stepparents who already consider themselves invisible.

Then, of course, there’s the question of what the stepparent will do. Clicking on “son” or “daughter” has even more implications because the child’s biological mother or father is likely Facebook friends with them and could become angry

There are never easy answers in these situations, but even the questions themselves can offer a learning experience.

Source: Huffington Post, “What can Facebook teach a stepfamily?” Barbara Goldberg, April 6, 2012

Categories

Archives