The Catholic Church in England wades into the Facebook debate...
Sunday, August 2, 2009 by Technoculture and New Media
Here's a piece from the UK's Sunday Telegraph about the concerns over Facebook (etc.) raised by the head of the Roman Catholics in England and Wales. I don't know what evidence (if any) he is basing his concerns about suicide on (other than the one case cited in the article), or even the claim that Facebook favours 'transient' friendships. I also have problems with the declaration that: "We're losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person's mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point. Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanises what is a very, very important part of community life and living together." But, rather uncomfortably, I do find myself sharing some of his apprehensions about the commodification of friendship... hmm, that's for another day, though.
I agree with the commodification of friendship- it seems to me that for many, a higher no. of friends is a great goal. i guess this will go along with all the superficial factors of facebook such as always wanting to look good, popular etc, and dont se any real way its going to change unfortunately. i feel that if you dont/ are not actually going to communicate with the person, even if you know them, why be friends on facebook? but i guess not all share the same point of view.