In my opinion, the biggest effect Facebook has had on society is on the social part of ‘social’ networking and the changes that have emerged regarding how people interact with each other. Facebook is essentially a massive network of pen pals, in which users are friends with people that they have known forever or just met a minute ago. Facebook has redefined the meaning of virtual friends and is changing how we view and define friendships. Wall posts, instant messages, regular messages, and poking are all forms of communication that users engage in. While some have praised Facebook by allowing its users to continually stay in contact, chat, and write to each other, is it really so great? In my opinion, the biggest difference between now and the generation when my parent’s grew up is the way people communicate. Yes, it is great that technology is allowing teenagers and young adults opportunities to engage in online conversation, meet new people, and stay in touch with relatives or friends that are far away, but how is it affecting our social skills? In the article we were assigned to read, the author stated, “Not only do the sites provide a new context for interaction, they can also help in transmission of social cues that facilitate offline interactions. Friends can learn conversation-triggering things about each other that might have slipped through the cracks in a purely face-to-face age.” There have certainly been new means of interaction among people through social networking sites, but I believe it has had a negative affect on society. There are positives that can be picked out of communication via social networking, as the author pointed out, but it has changed the way face-to-face communication is viewed. Many people are ‘friends’ online and write each other wall posts and messages, but when they see each other in person, it is a different, subtler friendship. A person who tends to be shy when talking in person may have a completely different personality online because they aren’t talking face-to-face and they have time to detail and craft a message is deemed acceptable by the recipient. People are losing their social skills in how to talk to a person face-to-face and now lack the inability to use body language to express thoughts or feelings. Furthermore, our generation is so enthralled in Facebook and the most recent status updates, relationship statuses, and photo albums that one of the biggest conversation triggers is Facebook itself. Facebook was created to facilitate better communication, but I believe that it is ruining communication skills of kids varying from thirteen years old all the way through young adult hood. I see the changes with middle schoolers in my town and how social media is the center of their life. I love Facebook, but if I have kids one day, I want them to have the necessary social skills to interact with others in person, not just online.