Is this a rude thing to do?

Your son is very wise in not using social media. I joined FB many years ago and my late DD was mad. Her life was cyber security, visiting very senior personnel in international business and government organisations liaising on cyber security. Did she use social media, no, and her husband still doesn't.

Not nosey.

He's probably worried you're going to start checking out his friends. Teenage and adult kids can be very paranoid about their parents knowing anything about their social lives. My son scolded me once for having one of his friends on my friends list and I was able to truthfully tell him I had been friends with that person long before he had!

biglouis

When I first moved in here one of my neighbours asked me my name, was I Miss or Mrs, and for my phone number. She did not volunteer her name which I considered very rude. And no, I did not tell her my phone number. I told her it was for my friends and family and not just any random person.

I later looked her up on the land registry website to find out her full name, and it gave me a lot more info about her - including the fact that she and her "husband" had different surnames. Thats what you call stalking.

Oh well done! I call it sleuthing haha

If the person didn't want us to look at his photos, he would have made them private, wither for the Chosen Few, or for his own eyes only - 'Only Me'.

Babies cry. Parents with young children have a right to holiday. The judgement here is rubbish.

I'm also checking out the old street directories from 40s and 50s as a friend told me they lived above her dad's shop.This had been a mystery ad the shop has a different name. Then it clicked. In the 40s her dad would have been young and living above the shop but not being the owner! It brings back memories as my mum used to shop there.

It’s normal to be curious.

Gosh, no, it’s not weird. Social media was created to share poster’s content. Your son needs to understand the purpose of sites like this.

You didn’t say how old your son is.

The other thing about social media sites is - it exposes differing viewpoints. It could be seen as a barometer of social trends, politics, cultural changes. In a few words… a platform of good or not so good, depending on what you believe or feel.