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Is social networking undermining community life?
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has warned social networking websites, texting and e-mails are undermining community life. Do you agree?
Archbishop Vincent Nichols said MySpace and Facebook led young people to seek "transient" friendships, with quantity becoming more important than quality.
He said society was losing some of its ability to build communities through inter-personal communication, as the result of excessive use of texts and e-mails rather than face-to-face meetings or telephone conversations.
He said skills such as reading a person's mood and body language were in decline, and that exclusive use of electronic information had a "dehumanising" effect on community life.
Do you spend more time sending texts and 'facebooking' than you do meeting people in person? How important are your social networking relationships? Is our ability to communicate suffering because of too much time spent in the virtual world? Do the benefits of communicating by social networks, email and texts outweigh any negatives?
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Published:
Sunday, 2 August, 2009, 03:53 GMT
04:53 UK
All comments as they come in
Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:44 GMT
18:44 UK
Councils across the country sometime ago (and still have) had a forceful ''integration'' policey that of mixing the bad council tenants with good council tenants which plunged the council estates into violence and crime.
Without any doubt political fanaticism has gone mad.or perhaps we have a generation of illiterate councillers which is why they are not of the most refined sensibility or perception which cannot be over-emphasised.
JAMES ATKINSON, STOK-ON-TRENT, United Kingdom
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:42 GMT
18:42 UK
The Archbishop is correct that the long-term effects of social networking are unknown at this time. He is also certainly correct that as more and more of our interactions are removed from venues where it is possible to read body language a large portion of the communication is lost. The authority of the Roman Catholic church to bind things on earth and heaven is unquestionable. Those who rail against the church can expect to rail against the gates of hell - from the inside.
Jason, Stafford
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:37 GMT
18:37 UK
I would say facebook builds community. A month of reading the rubbish people post up on Facebook on a daily basis makes you want to go outside and do something meaningful in the community.
Charles, London
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:36 GMT
18:36 UK
And we care about this mans views why , exactly ?
Jonathan Ives, Fleet
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:35 GMT
18:35 UK
"Personally I think the dorkier the haters act, (if that's possible) the more people will want to join a church (ANY church) just to disassociate from dorks.
And given the hater's suspicious expertise at dorkiness, I havent ruled out a global church conspiracy."
zak, USA
Dream on!
[PaulRichard2], Southampton, United Kingdom
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:30 GMT
18:30 UK
This whole idea of social networking in my opinion is much more of an advantage than a disadvantage. The reasonings can be justified and proven to be more beneficial than harmful.
For example. In quiet a few offices where people need a quick note in stead of a long detailed explanation it saves people from moving office to office to deliver the message and streamlines the process of the everyday work.
There are many more but I dont have space to elaborate. Will explain in detail later.
Sarim Tirmizi, Fairfax VA
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:30 GMT
18:30 UK
i like using myface adn freindsbook my freinds can always talk with me and some times we can talk to other freinds who live 2 streets down from where my daddy lived before.it is silly to be angry withe the computer because it can help you when nobody is there to talk to you.only old people dont like it. love from alicexx
alice (age 6), Oxford
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:25 GMT
18:25 UK
As far as I am aware, there haven't been any wars nor killing of people who don't believe Facebook etc...
Ever since religion first started it has killed/murdered people who think or believe different ways, it's high time the bible story book was put on the back shelf...
[Andy2035]
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:08 GMT
18:08 UK
I do not agree with any of the archbishops' comments the sect he represents is very populated by hypocrites, who should practice what they preach. I was a catholic but events recently have made me question any god or other higher being that allows so much injustice and suffering, justifying the same in misguided nonsense that the catholic religion preaches. If people need to reach out by any form or if they want to believe they are fulfilled by facebook or myspace then good for them.
gerard, liverpool
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:05 GMT
18:05 UK
Taken to extremes, I can see how these things might detract from a sense of community. But then an excess of most things isn't good. However I view every pronouncement by religious leaders with scepticism, but hey, if I was reliant on a discredited and failing doctrine for my entire raison d'etre, I would probably shout from on high at every juncture in the (vain) hope that I might engender support.
I say: disenfranchise the church, ban religious schools and remove Bishops from The Lords.
richard jackson, portsmouth, United Kingdom
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 17:00 GMT
18:00 UK
As some people have already said, Facebook is a great way to meet people you haven't seen in a long time ( great for other things too). Now I've been using using Facebook for nearly two years and MSN for about 6 years, and I think that I tend to meet my friends less often. Through social networking we actually communicate but we don't speak anymore. To me social networking do not link people, it's not a way of socialization and it's probably the opposite. There is no more link between people.
Alexandre, Evreux
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 16:59 GMT
17:59 UK
Religion was the opiate of the masses, then came television, then came the internet, now there's Facebook & Twitter.
One can only imagine what's next.......
Robert G, Virginia Beach, VA, United States
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 16:57 GMT
17:57 UK
When Facebook starts encouraging people to kill each other or tells them to stop using contraception - then it will be harmful to society, and correctly considered anti-social.
I reckon these sites are daft, but I also think the Catholic Church should be be careful about the hypocrisy of denouncing any method of free expression. It just makes them look like they're threatened by the ever increasing decentralization of authority and empowerment of the masses... oh wait - they are!
K, Edinburgh
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 16:48 GMT
17:48 UK
Before long society will not be able to function without facebook, the internet and mobile phones. It will be an interesting time for mankind... the Earth sees another mas extinction event because there were no more 50 pences to feed the meter.
pb, fleet
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Added:
Monday, 3 August, 2009, 16:41 GMT
17:41 UK
If anyone was in any doubt just how out of touch with the modern world and todays younger generations the church is, Vincent Nichols just demonstated how. What he fails to realise is that most people use these sites to keep in touch with people they actually know, or havent seen in years etc. Its a great way to get in touch with someone you have lost contact with for example, or relatives who live the other side of the world. We dont all live in little parishes anymore controlled by the church.
Tristan Lashmar, Keighley
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DEBATE STATUS
Total comments: 1508
Published comments: 1403
Rejected comments: 105
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