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Social networking sites have had a rough time lately, so it should come as little surprise that a leading cleric today accused them of leading teenagers to suicide.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the head of the Catholic church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, argued that far from providing a platform to extend social relationships, sites like MySpace and Facebook only offer "transient relationships".
"If we mean by community a genuine growing together and a mutual sharing in an interest that is of some significance then it needs more than Facebook," he is reported as saying.
"Among young people often a key factor in them committing suicide is the trauma of transient relationships. They throw themselves into a friendship or network of friendships, then it collapses and they're desolate."
But it was not just social networks that were on the receiving end of Archbishop Nichols' wrath - he argued that too much electronic information is contributing to the dehumanisation of society and its communities.
Excessive use of texts and emails was one example he used of the way in which technology is destroying our ability to interact with each other.
"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," he said.
While the Archbishop's heart is in the right place, it's perhaps too easy to pick a few extreme examples of "when technology goes bad" - such as the tragic case of Megan Gillan, the teenager who committed suicide last week after classmates bullied her via Bebo - and take that to be the norm.
Social networks offer a multitude of things which enhance society - putting old friends back in touch, helping users share memories, pictures, and communicate better with each other - aside from the potential business benefits.
Just look at Japan - perhaps the most technologically advanced nation on the planet and a place the west often looks to glimpse what things might be like in the future. It has its fair share of teenage suicide pacts made over the internet, of course, but ultimately its society is stronger and more tightly bound than that of any western nation.
Technology can be dangerous, but it's not the evil doer, merely the enabler.
02 Aug 2009
