Judge Says Being A Facebook Friend Isn't Like Real Friendship

from the glad-we-cleared-that-up dept

Turns out that your Facebook friends aren't necessarily real friends... under the law (at least in the UK). A UK judge has ruled that requesting to be a Facebook friend isn't the same as trying to become someone's real friend, which apparently matters in terms of harassment. The case concerned a woman who accused her ex-boyfriend of harassing her by requesting to be her friend on Facebook, but the judge apparently felt that since most people use Facebook and other social networks more as a list of acquaintances, it's hardly harassment to request to "friend" an ex.

Filed Under: facebook, friends, harassment
Companies: facebook

Turns Out Those Six Thousand People Who Are Your 'Friends' On MySpace Aren't Really Your Friends

from the no,-really? dept

This seems unlikely to come as a surprise to most people, but despite the number of tools and applications such as social networks for getting people to network with each other, the number of close friends that most people have hasn't really changed -- and it almost always involves people who have gotten to know each other face-to-face rather than online. This isn't particularly surprising or new, nor does it suggest that there's anything less real about online friends. It just confirms what pretty much everyone knows: while it's certainly possible to meet and get to know people quite well through online venues, meeting in person still has plenty of benefits -- especially for reaching a closer level of friendship.

Filed Under: friends, relationships, social networks
Companies: facebook, myspace