Social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace have revolutionised the way we communicate and build friendships. HELEN THACKRAY, 18, from St Aidan's Sixth Form, asks how much of this is a good thing.
I log on. "You have one new friend request". A complete stranger that I have never met wants to "be my friend."
An everyday occurrence in the strange virtual world of social networking.
Yet, imagine walking down the street and suddenly being in
tercepted by a passer-by who, with no introduction, calmly asks if they could be your friend.
After a short moment of disbelief and awkwardness you would no doubt carry on walking and pretend that strange scenario had never happened.
Yet I automatically click "accept" and begin browsing the stranger's profile.
As it happens, this is not a complete stranger but a friend of a distant friend. In this virtual world that is quite a connection.
When I browse through my list of "friends" there is a strange assortment of people; a medley of real friends, people I once knew but have grown apart from, people I know of, people who know my friends and people I simply don't know.
And the strangest thing is that they are all equals to me this in virtual world.
These networks such as 'MySpace' and 'Facebook' seem to have their own set of values.
They are communities attached to reality yet so distant in some respects.
For example, how many times have you spoken to a "friend" on MSN or commented them on Myspace yet when you pass them in the corridor at school or sit opposite them on the bus, you ignore them.
There's that awkwardness where you wonder whether you should smile and say "Hi" but in the time it takes you to contemplate the idea the moment has passed and you've entered that strange relationship where you're online "friends" but strangers to each other in reality.
Even though this idea may seem alien to our elders who grew up in a world where socialising was about real conversation in real life, there does seem to be a number of benefits to this modern world.
To begin with, it allows us to be confident in a way past generations could not manage.
In a world where we cannot be literally seen or heard, we can talk to people without being self-conscious.
We are able to have the most honest conversations and perhaps be the most true to ourselves.
We can tell people exactly how we feel without any embarrassment.
Isn't it ironic that in this virtual world that is not reality, we can be our real selves and express our most real thoughts and emotions.
The full article contains 457 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
