The Pope gets social networking, giving it his only slightly-hedged blessings in a new post at his blog.
In the digital world, transmitting information increasingly means making it known within a social network where knowledge is shared in the context of personal exchanges. … this dynamic has contributed to a new appreciation of communication itself, which is seen first of all as dialogue, exchange, solidarity and the creation of positive relations. On the other hand, this is contrasted with the limits typical of digital communication: the one-sidedness of the interaction, the tendency to communicate only some parts of one's interior world, the risk of constructing a false image of oneself, which can become a form of self-indulgence.
…
The new technologies allow people to meet each other beyond the confines of space and of their own culture, creating in this way an entirely new world of potential friendships.
The interweaving of religion and science in papal utterances is becoming bizarrely Dune-like: "the new technologies are contributing greatly to our preparations."
Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age [Vatican via Reuters]
