Virtual friends are only virtual

A piece of research by a chap called Will Reader (should've been an estate lawyer) over at Sheffield Hallam Uni has "revealed" the virtual nature of friends made over social networking sites.

According to Information Week, "an online survey... found that in-person encounters remain the most important factor in forming close friendships" and "close friendships can rarely be formed without judging people's honesty on non-verbal cues".

Y'think? This is one of those stories that makes me sit back and wonder how otherwise right-minded people could ever imagine this was not the case. It also reminds me of one of The Onion's most cutting recent articles...