48% of Parents Friend Their Kids on Facebook [STATS]

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Parents admitted that "it can be awkward at times" when they follow their kids' Facebook updates, but think that it's probably worth it to keep tabs on them. Of course, savvy teens could easily exclude their parents from seeing potentially incriminating updates using Facebook's advanced privacy features.

Retrevo also asked parents at what age they believe it's appropriate for kids to sign up for Facebook or MySpace. Twenty-six percent said over 18, 36% said 16-18, 30% said 13-15 and just 8% said under 13.

The study's scope of interest went beyond social networking, also asking if parents ban texting at the dinner table -- 29% of all parents do, but the number is highest (36%) when we're talking about parents of teenagers. The survey also found that 12% of parents have banned their kids from using social media as punishment.

We know Mashable readers are tech savvy and quite a few are parents as well. How do you deal with social media use in the home?