"Is the world of social networking a step on the slippery banana peel to suicide?" asked Cathy Lynn Grossman in USA Today. The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales thinks so—Archbishop Vincent Nichols says teens who spend too much time on Facebook don't develop the "real friendships" they need to be emotionally healthy. "That's a loooong reach."
Not as long as you might think, said George Pitcher in Britain's Daily Telegraph. "We are all, frankly, in danger now of conducting human relationships almost exclusively through the prism of a computer screen." There's something "dehumanizing" about doing all our communication by e-mail, texting, and Facebook. The Internet is supposed to be about bringing us together. "Actually, it's driving us apart."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.