www.roanoke.com

Elizabeth Jewel wanted to take her 3¹₂-year-old son swimming but didn't know an ideal place for someone his age.

So when a friend posted something on Facebook about going to the "Frog Pond," Jewel messaged her to find out what that was. That's how she discovered Montgomery County's extremely child-friendly pool on Cinnabar Drive in Christiansburg.

"I've lived here 15 years and never heard about that park," the Blacksburg resident said. "I ended up taking my son there ... and he just had the absolute best time."

Jewel set up a Facebook account a year and half ago and relies on it heavily to stay in touch with friends and family. She also networks online with other parents in the region who share ideas for child-friendly activities.

Across the country an ever-growing segment of parents is embracing social media as Jewel has.

A few years ago, when the sites Facebook and MySpace started getting a lot of attention, many parents viewed them with discomfort. Here was this unfamiliar universe populated by teenagers -- and maybe people looking to prey on them.

Safety experts urged parents to learn about social media and set up accounts so that we could monitor our children's online activities and keep them safe. We weren't encouraged to become big users of these sites ourselves, but for many of us, that is just what happened.

A recent report from BabyCenter.com says the number of mothers who regularly use social media has nearly quintupled since 2006, and more mothers are now active in social media than are not.

BabyCenter also found that mothers are using social media for a whole lot more than keeping tabs on their kids. Some 44 percent of the mothers it surveyed use social media for word-of-mouth recommendations. And according to the report, mothers mostly use "mass-reach" networks such as Facebook or MySpace for socializing and entertainment.

One reason that more parents are on social networks now is obvious. People who were in high school or college when the networks debuted and were active on them then still use them after having kids.

But lots of older people -- my parents, for example -- now have accounts. I live several states away from them, and Facebook has been a wonderful way to share photos and updates on what my wife, my sons and I are doing.

So far my personal experience on Facebook has been great and so has that of several parents whom I've talked to about the site. But I do wonder, sometimes, if there are dangers in all this sharing of information.

Most warnings I've read about social media highlight boneheaded moves like posting that you hate your job, uploading pictures from a keg party, or confirming friend requests from sketchy folks you've never met in person.

But are there less-obvious risks we parents should know about?

Anne Collier is co-director of connectsafely.org. Her Web site's social media tips for parents focus on what children should or shouldn't be allowed to do.

But Collier said, "It's very important that while we need to be alert to how much children are sharing online, parents need to be equally aware about what they're sharing about their children."

Even though it is extremely rare for a stranger to abduct a child, she said, parents should be wary of sharing personal details about themselves or their children too broadly, since someone with bad intent could use that information to gain a child's trust. And the same smart rules for children, such as not accepting friend requests from just anyone who asks, also apply to parents, Collier said.

Another Facebook mistake that might not put kids at risk, but could strain some friendships, is posting ad nauseam about children or, even worse, sharing material people really don't appreciate, such as updates on junior's bodily functions.

That sounds obvious, but I guess it isn't, judging from the hall-of-shame-worthy posts at stfuparents.tumblr.com. That blog -- which by its very nature includes PG-13 material, be warned -- publishes anonymously submitted screen captures from Facebook. Its author, who also stays anonymous, said submissions have increased dramatically each month since she launched the site in March.

"I think of Facebook and the Internet like a hangout in a TV show, like Al's Diner on 'Happy Days,' " she said. "It's somewhere people go to hang out with friends. We don't necessarily need to hear about your baby's dirty diaper when we're hanging out at the hangout joint."

Albert Raboteau  is a former Roanoke Times writer who works for Virginia Tech and lives in Blacksburg.