Archbishop slams Facebook, Bebo

Social networking websites, texting and emails are undermining community life, a top British church leader has warned.

Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols expressed concern about websites such as Facebook and MySpace, saying they encourage teenagers to build "transient relationships" that can leave them traumatised and even suicidal when they collapse, news agency PA reported.

Nichols is the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

His comments in The Sunday Telegraph follow the inquest into the death of 15-year-old Megan Gillan, a student at Macclesfield High School in Cheshire who took a fatal overdose of painkillers after being bullied on social networking site Bebo.

Archbishop Nichols said the sites encouraged young people to put too much emphasis on the number of friends they have rather than on the quality of their relationships.

"We're losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person's mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point.

"Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanises what is a very, very important part of community life and living together", the PA report quoted the Archbishop as saying.

- NZHERALD STAFF