Social Networking- The good side

There have been (often debatable) reports that facebook sort social networks prevent people from making friends in the real world. I am not really convinced with these reports for 1) Facebook is not there to make new friends as much as it is to maintain already existing friendships 2) I often find my friends providing me the same level of comfort on facebook as they would if I probably called them.. meeting them in person is most often out of the question for logisitical reasons. Well, no matter what people say.. i find it useful to know what my friends are doing in their life.. call it stalking if you may. But knowing what they are upto besides keeping me updated, helps me to focus on things i seldom forget and would have been reminded of if they were around. In a way, it brings back memories, and interests that one often forgets in the daily grind, in a new country, in a new job, in a new circle of friends or whatever that new thing may be that happens to you. I have always found that during my long stretches of boredom, browsing through facebook often gets me charged up and interested again in things I lose focus on generally. I am not here to say facebook is a susbtitute for your real friends, but there are times one gets bored with the current circle, not necessarily the people as much as the monotonicity of seeing the same people and doing the same gig..at those times... facebook may be the right place to look beyond your immediate circle of friends and keep moving..