Image by law_keven via Flickr
Mike Adams – “The Health Ranger”, thinks that social networking is destroying our natural social fabric and making us more anti-social.
What do you think?
He points to a case of a young boy that has thousands of followers on Facebook and MySpace, but lives in his mom’s basement and has no ‘real’ friends.
I worried about that for a while with my daughter. But you know what? It was a phase. She hardly goes online anymore at all.
And Mike makes it sound like a horrible thing to call someone a friend even though you’ve never met face to face. There are a lot of you that I consider friends. I told you about Linda just last week. We were close friends, and we never met. I value my Internet friends, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a life. And I know most of you have very busy lives.
One of the things I am working on with the new site is including a forum so that we can all be friends. I think women in particular are so busy and deal with so many issues that it’s nice to be able to pop in and talk, or ask a question, and get advice, or feedback, or just have a conversation with a friend. And I’m sorry, you can’t have any sort of meaningful conversation in 140 characters.
I envision a club where we can talk about today’s news, or health, or other issues that interest or concern you, or just find information you need quickly and easily. A place that’s ours. A place where we feel like we belong.
I don’t think having Internet friends is weird or anti-social, do you?
Pingback: Valuable Internet Information » 25MayIs Social Networking Anti-Social?Filed Under: Misc. Stuff by: Carole
Hi Carole! Good point there. I believe that Internet friends are necessary in our busy lives. It’s important to meet up with others who share a common interest, and as a busy married, working mother to four plus a postgraduate course to fit into my daily schedule, you could say that like most mums, I am very busy and don’t often get the time to catch up with regular friends. Yes, I know we all have texts and emails etc etc and the phone still plays a key role here.
It’s handy to glean advice from people who are dealing with the same sort of life situations as yourself, and when sharing a problem, it is often easier that we don’t actually know the person discussing her problem on a “real” basis.
I totally agree that for many, the Internet is a real Godsend, particularly if someone is house-bound, however, it has it’s place in our lives and can never fully replace the “real” world.
The younger teenage generation will have to learn to keep the Internet in it’s place. I too, have read about youngsters becoming addicted to online chatting, as there is a risk of those youngsters becoming unable to relate to others in their daily lives, and relying on cyberspace for everything.
Social networking online should not replace having friends locally. It has it’s place, and just like anything else in life, moderation seems to be the key. Online I have found so many more people who share my interests and passions, but I still do have a social network offline as well- family and a few close friends as well as several acquaintances who someday may become friends.
I believe the internet makes it possible for those who are short of time to make friends all over the world to interact with at a time that is convenient for us as well as wherever we happen to be. That to me is simply amazing! I feel blessed to have both options.
Thanks for your feedback Fiona and Beth!
I have to admit, it certainly seemed weird in the beginning to have people you called friends that you probably would never meet, but I have developed some friendships that I really value.
You’re right Beth, you need a life off the computer too.
Moderation is the key to almost all aspects of a successful life.