social networks

Hi everyone,
I really like one of my rss sites or feeds - as the guy links to really brief pieces of info and if they catch your attention you can then click on the original blog and read further.
The blog is called Library Stuff and the post that caught my attention on my last read was called There are friends and then there are non-meta friends
This links to an article called You are not my friend by Joel Stein and a blog entry about Facebook by Ballad in Plain E.
Both of these entries are talking about Social Networks - and issues to do with privacy, how we communicate online and the worth of joining things like Facebook. In particular I found it interesting to think about how people are calling these people "friends" but communicating without the same level of honesty or intimacy that a "real" or non-online friendship has. It is also talking about concepts of privacy - that what people see as private information is changing quite dramatically.
I have had a number of invitations to join various social networking sites and so far have resisted or joined and then never gone back again, so I think this part of the 23 Things project will be the most challenging for me - as it doesn't really sit with how I normally interact with people.
I find it scary when my friend's little girl sends me invites to these sites that are often for adults, but I'm sure she and her friends at school are all joining and "friending" each other - and her mum's friends!
Anyway I think these social networks pose a lot of questions about relating and communicating with people, privacy and security, and ways of interacting in both the professional arena and on a personal level with friends and family,
Lots to think about,
Scritty