It’s interesting to see my parents now have a Facebook or Twitter account, reconnecting with their old pals from way back who knows when. But when they started commenting/parenting within these social networking sites, that’s a different story. And yes, this made me feel that we just entered the “be careful what you tweet” era, because mom and dad are watching you.

A recent report from Retrevo revealed some surprising stats on how parents make use of technology to employ modern day parenting—this new style dawned what we now call “iParents.”

Based on the study, iPhone parents are more technologically active compared to Android parents. “If you know a mom or dad with an iPhone, it’s probably safe to assume they’re well connected on Facebook. iPhone owners were also the least likely (5%) to have a small amount of Facebook friends, as opposed to 20% of all parents.”

Other fascinating numbers speak some truths about the present-day situation. Around 34% of parents whose children are aged 13-19 years old would rush to using Facebook to get to know their kids’ friends.  And, it seems that fathers are really the more protective arm when it comes to knowing who their daughters are dating, with 13% of fathers (versus 10% of moms) admitted using Facebook to learn more about their children’s dates and relationship status. Our parents are also becoming more and more attached to gadgets and social media. Sometimes we forget they are there, only to be reminded once they comment on a recent post—which we regret later on.

Talking about having regrets on what you just tweeted, an article posted in Reuters.com showed that one in every three Americans say they felt remorse after tweeting or posting something.

It’s a sad thing that sometimes parents would have to use social media to get to know who their children are, learn their sentiments and more about their friends. But somehow, this style may unlock other better opportunities for parents and kids to understand each other, eventually leading to improved personal relationships. While having your parents monitor tweets and posts may sound absurd to many youngsters, it’s also nice to have cool iParents around on these popular social networking platforms.