Anti-Social Networking

Everyone's on Facebook.

Seriously. The majority of everyone i've ever known is on one social networking site or another. It's almost as if our whole society can only socialise if they're in front of a keyboard.

So, i'm starting to wonder, is social networking creating an anti-social society?

Example: My daughter's on Facebook. It's not uncommon that she will send me a message or two. But from upstairs? Or in the same room? Surely it would've taken less effort to just open her mouth and speak.

Okay, so it's a bit of fun. I've been guilty of it once or twice. Commenting on someone's status when they're in the same room. But the problem goes beyond that.

The average user has 130 friends on Facebook (according to Facebook Statistics). I'd be curious to know how many of those 130 friends they speak to on a regular basis, and how many of them do they actually socialise with in the real world. Of the 87 friends I have on Facebook, I speak regularly to about 6 or 7 of them. Everyone I speak to have at least twice that many friends on Facebook.

Brings a whole new meaning to the term "Status Update". Do people honestly think that the more 'friends' they have, the more their popularity status rises?

My recommendation: go out and actually meet some real people. Make real friends. And socialise with them using your voice. You'll find it much more satisfying.

Excuse me while I share this post to Facebook.