The negatives though, he added, are that it's “time consuming” and often includes interactions with others that are “superficial” and can leave one feeling empty.
“It doesn't really match talking on the phone or going out for coffee with somebody,” he said.
Jonathan also cited safety concerns regarding online social networking such as stalking or predators baiting underage kids.
“Your parents shouldn't have to stand over your shoulder,” he noted, “but they should know what's going on. You should be open with them about what's happening.”
As parochial vicar of a thriving parish in downtown Denver, Fr. Michael Warren, an Oblate of the Virgin Mary, said he is concerned about the spiritual and the interpersonal risks of these new technologies. Aside from the dangers of early drinking and sexual behaviors outlined in the study, he found deeper, more ominous affects of faceless communication lurking beneath the surface.
He cited intense isolation and the inability to form real, selfless relationships with others as results of excessive texting and online networking.
“In real face to face encounters you stand before me as a real person in your own right, invested with value that does not originate in me,” he said in a Dec. 6 e-mail. “But in the cyber world I am the determiner of all value and therefore am free from the demands of the face to face encounter.”
Through online communication, he added, “the only value you have in my eyes are the values I permit you to have in my own small world.”
Fr. Warren said an additional concern is having this mentality spill over into one's spiritual life.
“As a person becomes habituated to living this way, it is not likely that God will be spared this indignity,” he said.
“Like everything else in my cyber world, God will have the value I allow him to have, and I can 'defriend' Him just as easily as I do everyone else."
However, despite the dangers of texting and Facebook, both Tomeo and Fr. Warren agree that they can be used in proper context.
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“The Church in Her wisdom recognizes the advantage of online communication for faith outreach,” Tomeo said, noting both Pope Benedict XVI and the U.S. bishop's encouragement on technology being used for evangelization.
Fr. Warren added that as “with all things human, moderation is the key.” The important thing, he and Tomeo stressed, is parental involvement.
“The domestic church (the family) is a place where children should develop the essential virtues of social communication face to face,” Fr. Warren said.
“Parents should also help their children to know what the true ends of friendship and communication are,” he added. “These discoveries help the young know that they cannot define themselves but are to understand themselves as part of a larger world over which they do not have command.”
“There is simply no substitute for time spent together as a family,” he said.
Marianne is a journalist with a background in writing and Catholic theology. When not elaborating on the cinematic arts, she enjoys spending time with people, reading thick books and traveling anywhere and everywhere.