• Gizmodo, Friday, November 19, 2010 2:32 PM

Commenting on the state of social networking -- both online and off -- Jimmy Kimmel declared Wednesday "National UnFriend Day." The late-night talk show host's message? Social networking has led many to lose track of their real friends and connections, and, oh, the whole Facebook-led phenomenon has some pretty vexing side effects. "Kimmel's got a damn good point," writes Gizmodo's Sam Biddle.

"Zuckerberg's metaphor for companionship, lust, and platonic palling is pretty meaningless for most people." Among Biddle's 607 "friends," he adds: "I can see that those I've chosen to label as my friends might as well be strangers ... Some of them I've taken deliberate means to lose 'real world' contact with ... Some of them I outright despise." In his final analysis, Biddle calls the present state of social networking -- Facebook's version -- "unnatural." Indeed, "Let's all shout together that, yeah, Facebook sucks up an inordinate amount of our time every day. So let's at least waste that time with people we somewhat care about."

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