ronin - 6:09 pm on Jun 20, 2007 (gmt 0)

I feel sorry for those that lack the skills for real life

An often-heard but false dichotomy. Virtual social networks are not a replacement of real life, they are a tool. Is email less real than a letter? Is a conversation using IM less real than a conversation using VOIP (or less real than a conversation face to face)?

I suspect that no-one here harms their social life by spending time every week reading and contributing to threads on WW.

There will be people who are socially inhibited who thrive in virtual environments. And there will be people who thrive in real world environments who find it difficult to adapt to the metaphor of a virtual environment. But there will be (increasingly) a majority of others who thrive in both. I don't think this is an either/or.