We should be careful, therefore, never to trivialise the concept or the experience of friendship.

Your Eminence, just because Cardinal Martino defriended you to get a free Whopper doesn't mean you have to vent to the entire world. Get over it.

brigid_fitch: We should be careful, therefore, never to trivialise the concept or the experience of friendship.

Your Eminence Holiness, just because His Eminence Cardinal Martino defriended you to get a free Whopper doesn't mean you have to vent to the entire world. Get over it.

FTFY

B-b-but I really AM friends with Dane Cook and Jenna Jameson!

How many is "an obnoxious amount"? more than 100?

How about for Farkers?

More than 10?

PoopStain: Hating on the Pope is a sport around here, but the man has a point.

The end result of online fantasy is pretty easy to see when you start reading farker's comments about women. Most of them aren't satisfied unless they're farking a shaven porn star who looks like an 11 year old girl from the waist down.

This.

In summary, it seems that the Pope was saying you should focus more on making friends with people around you rather than focusing on online friendships.

It's not bad advice but, of course, I foresee all those people without lives criticizing his comments attempting to validate their crappy existence.

If you know them, friendship is fair game.

Random strangers: Just say no.

Current Mood: Hatty

I'd have thought the pope would know the difference between "amount" and "number."

Or is he not that kind of Nazi?

So by Vatican Law, does this now mean that friend harvesters are now on the same level as sodomites?

Dispector: I foresee all those people without lives criticizing his comments attempting to validate their crappy existence.

Here you are posting on Fark, criticizing other people for defending themselves for having an internet life while you post in a Fark comment thread. You're no better, stop acting like it.

/has no life
//wife doesn't count
///neither do friends
////still posts on fark
//The Pope is a fraud and the only reason he is bad mouthing Facebook is because it takes attention away from his church. He doesn't want you to spend time with your real friends, he wants you to spend more time in his church, giving him more money.

"...it may in fact function to isolate individuals from real social interaction..."

Unlike, say, taking vows of silence and celibacy and living in a secluded monastery?

No, average Farker, your mom's basement doesn't count. Now shut up.

Hey Pope, Tila Tequila is my friend. And she's real not like that imaginary dude you talk to.

I_Can't_Believe_it's_not_Boutros

I'd have thought the pope would know the difference between "amount" and "number."

Or is he not that kind of Nazi?

Well done, sir!

PoopStain: Hating on the Pope is a sport around here, but the man has a point.

The end result of online fantasy is pretty easy to see when you start reading farker's comments about women. Most of them aren't satisfied unless they're farking a shaven porn star who looks like an 11 year old girl from the waist down.


And who are you to judge? The Pope? Are you God?

You're just a self-righteous Farker who harbours kiddie porn, as evidenced by your post.

GungFu: You're just a self-righteous Farker who harbours kiddie porn, as evidenced by your post.

Who cares what you think?

You're not even American.

Bob Ondeeznuts: Here you are posting on Fark, criticizing other people for defending themselves for having an internet life while you post in a Fark comment thread. You're no better, stop acting like it.

I don't think he was criticizing individuals who post on forum boards, have Facebook accounts, or enjoy the social aspect of the internet. He was criticizing the obsessive and isolation that can come along with it. He was warning people to be wary of the issue and to remain focused on the people around you. I think we all know the type who detach themselves from the people in their lives and instead focus on internet relationships only. And yes, it's pretty pitiful for those people who do it.

You're turning the statement into something it's not... that or you're just overly defensive. Or, maybe you just fail at reading comprehension. But, go right ahead and show your stupidity by claiming someone is being a hypocrite by posting on Fark.

High-friend counts are suspect, but not nearly as annoying as all the toolbags who feel the need to update their status 4 times a day. Get a life.

Proctologist Iggy Poop: "De concept uh homeyship gots enjoyed some renew' prom'nence in de vocabulary uh de new digital social netwo'ks dat gots emerged in de last few years. De concept be one uh de noblest achievements uh human culture. ... We should be careful, derefo'e, neva' to trivialise da damn concept o' de 'espuh'ience uh homeyship.

"Jes hang loose, brud. It would be a muv'fuh if our desire t'sustain and develop on-line homeyships wuz t'be at da damn cost uh our availability t'engage wid our families, our homeys, and dose whut we meet in de daily reality of uh places uh wo'k, educashun and recreashun. If de desire fo' virtual connectedness become obsessive-like, it may in fack funcshun t'isolate innividuals fum da real social interacshun while also disruptin' de patterns uh rest, silence and reflecshun dat is necessary fo' healdy human development."

I'll give you a more accurate translation of the Pope's remarks:

Check it biatches. You can't be havin' too many ni**as runnin' around on yo Facebook and shiat, because you're bound to have some fake-ass ni**as up in there, you know, doze snitch-ass biatches who would sell you out for a month of their pot possession sentence. You may cause you to lose sight of dem true ni**as who rolled wit you since you were 9, feel me.

I have maybe 40 or so, but they're all people I know and keep in touch with. I don't just friend-request every person I've ever met. I don't troll through my friends' friend lists and send FRs to every goddamn person I saw at a party once.

Dispector: I don't think he was criticizing individuals who post on forum boards, have Facebook accounts, or enjoy the social aspect of the internet.

I'm pretty sure the Pope is attacking just that. Every few years a new fad comes along and the Pope tends to make statements and warn people about the possible dangers. It's that whole Catholic guilt thing. Don't have too much fun or that's a sin......Don't do something you enjoy or that's a sin.

The Pope's job is to make sure people still pay attention to their out of date ideas and beliefs. When something comes along and gets in the way of their church they scare you in to believing that your building a barrier between you and Jesus.

I'm so tired of getting friend requests from people I barely spoke to in high school. Or, even better, people who were assholes to me in high school. No, I didn't forget.

Proctologist Iggy Poop: Never mind all this Papal bull, what's for breakfast?

(See file name if you don't get it).

i LOL'ed

Grandmas Candy Dish: High-friend counts are suspect, but not nearly as annoying as all the toolbags who feel the need to update their status 4 times a day. Get a life.

Jimmie Kaska frowns upon your statement.
updated 14 seconds ago

Met my fiancée on the internet, so I'm getting a kick, etc...

Depends on why you use Facebook in the first place. I'm one of the organizers of my class reunion with a graduating class of over 700 people. So I get a ton of friend requests from people I knew 20 years ago because of this. I accept the friend requests.

I primarily started using FB for business networking. I'm in the video game business so it's not a stretch to use it for this purpose. Every person in the biz that requests to be my friend is either my real friend or a good business contact. I accept the request.

Because of my business, I run into some celebs who like our games. If they send me a friend request, I accept. No big deal.

I also have a large extended family and it's one way we can all keep in touch. Of course, having my parents as friends on FB is kinda strange but otherwise it's no big deal. If they are related to me, I accept the request.

Geez, I have a lot of friends on FB. It's really getting out of hand. But at least all of 'em are folks I know.

I'm so tired of getting friend requests from people I barely spoke to in the Hitler Youth. Or, even better, people who were assholes to me in the Hitler Youth. No, I didn't forget.

Disapproves...

/hot linked..
//like Scoble would notice....

Radioactive_Clown: ...
Geez, I have a lot of friends on FB. It's really getting out of hand. But at least all of 'em are folks I know.
RC,
do you ever need any voice talent?
Demo in profile

[PoopStain: Hating on the Pope is a sport around here, but the man has a point.

The end result of online fantasy is pretty easy to see when you start reading farker's comments about women. Most of them aren't satisfied unless they're farking a shaven porn star who looks like an 11 year old girl from the waist down.]

Poopstain has an excellent point and he touched some nerves. That is obvious by the people hating on him. The only correction I will make to poopstain's post is "Hating on the Pope/God/Jesus?Christians/Believers in general.

/Delay, God speaks to me. Does Tila Tequila speak to you? And is there any reason you would want her/it to?

Elmo Jones: Radioactive_Clown: ...
Geez, I have a lot of friends on FB. It's really getting out of hand. But at least all of 'em are folks I know.
RC,
do you ever need any voice talent?
Demo in profile

All the time. I'll pass your info on to our audio director. But you should know there's a lot of local talent in the area. Easy access to the talent is always a consideration. There are exceptions, of course.

I have like 700 or so FB friends. My criteria is meeting them IRL at least once and being able to justify to myself why they're on there.

No person who was a member of the Hitler Youth has any claim to moral authority.

If you disapprove of something, you speak out, if you can't speak out you act out.

You don't join, you don't associate, you don't support. You resist.

You suck, Pope Benedict.

Zasteva: How many is "an obnoxious amount"? more than 100?

How about for Farkers?

More than 10?

That was my question. I have about 100 but all but 2 or 3 are people I know in real life. Most of them are people who I'm on a college board with and most of the others I work with. I can see the point the pope is making in regards to simply friending every random stranger but it is nice to use as a tool to keep up with people.

Besides I'm Baptist, we don't typically care what the pope says :)

You know, if they used a term besides "friend" nobody would give a shiat.

Like all those people are "friends".

Came here for Palpatine pics.

You have failed me as I have foreseen

I'm Lutheran, so I don't worry too much about anything the pope says.

Never thought I'd agree with the pope on something. I tend not to add people unless I actually know them. People who add strangers just to get that number up kinda scare me.

I find that being friends on facebook actually helps get past the small talk. It actually enhances the relationships with people you know - at least for me. I can see an old friend, and I don't have to ask a ton of questions about where they work, how the kids, are, have you been travelling for work... etc. I look at FB, get the summary, and then I can carry on a real conversation with them.

Also, I'm starting to use it in place of linkedin. I mean, you can set up lists, why not have a list of people who are business contacts. I don't care if they know "what I'm doing" right now or whatever, and I can keep them from seeing pictures of me I don't want them to see, for the most part.

So, having a ton of "friends" - yes, that is a misnomer - isn't the problem. It is if you obsess and detach from reality.

Ironic pope is ironic.

i dont like the papacy, but all this hitler youth crap is nonsense. like these kids had much of a choice.

was ricky rodriguez a bad kid? (new window)

roryman: i dont like the papacy, but all this hitler youth crap is nonsense. like these kids had much of a choice.


From what I've read, it was either that or have the kids taken away and put in the HY anyway.

I've noticed some people using Facebook at their place of work...and I was in a doctor's office. No wonder our health care has gone to shiat. It's facebook's fault!

Seriously, I see people on Facebook all the time when they shouldn't be.

PoopStain: The end result of online fantasy is pretty easy to see when you start reading farker's comments about women. Most of them aren't satisfied unless they're farking a shaven porn star who looks like an 11 year old girl from the waist down.

You say that like it's a bad thing... As long as the waist up doesn't look like a 11 year old girl I'm happy.

/GF shaves.
//As do I.

Facebook friends definitions:

Youthful person - anybody you are even remotely connected to.

Oldster person - people you actually have a relationship with.

Radioactive_Clown:
Thank You!

/FB not in profile

malibupetey: No person who was a member of the Hitler Youth has any claim to moral authority.

If you disapprove of something, you speak out, if you can't speak out you act out.

You don't join, you don't associate, you don't support. You resist.

You suck, Pope Benedict.

I see someone has unresolved "daddy issues".

I don't think I have any more than 15-20 friends on FB. I used to have a lot more, but now I'm EXTREMELY picky. If I'm not REALLY good friends with someone in real life, forget it. I also never add roommates, bosses, professors, family, or any type of elder. For very good measure. They can call my cell. I also have it set to where only I can add other people, they can't add me or search for me. It really cuts down on the idiocy, and I can easily converse with the friends who matter most.

I use FB to both network for business contacts as well as meet girls (friends-of-friends). There's only a few "friends" that I haven't met in person.

I don't disagree with his overall point, and IA with the points about unrealistic expectations about reality after spending too much time on fantasy realms.

However, I have no interest in befriending the people around me. I wouldn't even know what to say to any of my neighbors. I've moved around a lot, and the internet people are the only ones that I can keep up with. Most importantly, I can shut them off.

I am really am anti-social. My dad painted all his windows black, and he cowered in his own basement until he remarried. He still prefers it. I'm not embarrassed about it. I can only do public speaking with little to no issues. The internet is good for me.