So, how can you realistically keep up with your child's vast circle of friends and ongoing status and photo updates?
1. Become a Friend
For starters, you can become your child's friend online. He or she will need to accept your friend request. This can be easier said than done. In some cases you may get push-back. It's your call how strongly you press. There are more private alternatives. A new product called Safe Social lets you privately see everything you would as a friend and even more. Many kids prefer this route. Remember, you're not spying on them; you're simply doing your job as an informed and involved parent.
2. Curb the Comments
Be sure not to push your luck by excessively commenting on your child's page once you are granted access. Grandparents can be over-commenting culprits too. Often, teens find this embarrassing and it may even lead to having them "unfriend" you. It happens all the time as they seek more independence.
3. Get a Report Card
The new parenting tool Safe Social offers a time-efficient and thorough way to keep tabs on your children's social networking without being too intrusive. It delivers an easy-to-read report card providing a 360-degree view of their overall social networking -- what they're saying and doing and who their friends are. This addresses one of the biggest issues facing parents all over the country -- feeling like you need to spend hours each week monitoring your child's online activity and still not being really sure you're seeing everything (they can filter your view) or what you might be missing (what's happening on their friends' pages).

4. Watch the Friends
Some friends your children may know well; others, they may barely know at all. Young people tend to think they know all the friends in their social network, but often, they really don't. Predators, whether bullies or sexual offenders, often masquerade as friends. The key is to unmask them. Safe Social's Friend Engine takes an extensive look at your kids' friends and checks them against more than 50 databases and other factors to see if they may not be who they say they are. You'll be alerted when an adult becomes a friend of your child, when someone looks suspicious or has no or few other mutual friends with your child.

5. Focus on Flagged Language and Photos
Specific words that may come up in strings of conversations -- sex, drugs, alcohol, suicide and so on, and suggestive or violent language -- will be flagged, so you can hone in on suspect dialogue. You can even opt to be immediately notified via an e-mail alert. This piece could prove priceless in protecting your children's safety and managing their reputations. Teen and preteen online behavior can be unpredictable and have devastating consequences. Safe Social helps catch situations before they spiral out of control. While every conversation and image is archived, you can adjust the setting to simply view those that are called out. This lets you give young people more privacy as they mature. You will see all photos, including those other people post of your child. Young people tend to push limits with photos, so checking this is critical.

Overall, social networking is an integral part of many teenage lives and an opportunity for your kids to learn to express themselves in a creative and responsible fashion. It's too big a trend to ignore. You can embrace it with these new tools on your side.
For more information, visit: www.SafeSocial.com, Safety.AOL.Com & ReginaLewis.com.



























