This week’s dilemma is a uniquely online problem, concerning the social networking website Facebook and other sites like it.

Basically the website is a way of keeping up with the people around you: friends and family overseas, that sort of thing. You can upload photos of yourself and what you’ve been up to - and all your friends can see them. Friends can write messages on your ‘wall’ and you can write back – and everyone in your network can see it.

The way that you form your friend network is either by accepting someone’s email request to be their friend – or by sending a request to someone you know – asking them to confirm that they are in fact your friend.

Our dilemma tonight is from Sally – she got a ‘friend’ request from someone she went to primary school with years ago. She doesn’t feel that she knows this person anymore, and doesn’t feel as though they were even friends when they were at school.

She doesn’t really want to share her online life with this person – but she doesn’t want to hurt this person’s feeling either, by rejecting the friendship request.

What should Sally do?

DISCUSSION POINTS:

• Are friends on social networking sites really ‘friends’ in the true sense of the word? Or is it more a case of just building up the number of friends you have, regardless of whether you’re really their friend? If you use the site do you consider every one of your ‘friends’ – to actually be a real friend?
• Is it possible to reject someone politely? Or is that an oxymoron?
• Should Sally get over herself and just accept him?