Joining an online community like holamun2 ppl gives you "technological skills and literacy to succeed in the contemporary world," according to a study by the MacArthur Foundation.

Dr Himanshu Tyagi of West London Mental Health NHS Trust says kids "used to the quick pace of online social networking may soon find the real world boring and unstimulating." Psychologist Graham Jones disagrees: "In my experience, the people who tend to be most active on sites such as Facebook or Bebo are those who are most socially active anyway."

The Church is going digital: the Vatican announced it will launch a Catholic social networking site similar to Facebook.

Tierra Natal – a new Hispanic-themed social networking site that promises to "celebrate and support the connection between friends and family across México and the United States."

The Saatchi Gallery presents STUART, a social networking site that allows student artists to display their work. (via Metafilter)