I asked a friend of mine recently: what, in your opinion, is the best invention of the 20th Century? Oh, we covered all aspects of modern technology: the aeroplane, the telephone, DNA testing.

Then we moved onto more menial inventions such as the Post-It Note and my own personal favourite, fake tan! None of these though, shone in comparison to the Internet.

The internet; a network that links computers all over the world by satellite and telephone, connecting users with service networks such as e-mail and the World Wide Web… the miracle of our times, or so the received wisdom goes.

Nowadays, if you don’t have a computer in your house you’re considered to be behind the times. Yes, I have a laptop and I don’t know what I’d do without it.

But with modern technology now at our fingertips, are we letting strangers into our home? More to the point, have social networking sites replaced the process of making friends the ‘old fashioned’ way? Bebo, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr; the list is endless and I’m not too proud to admit that I partake in one of the mentioned list.

What I can’t understand is why some users choose to display their whole life stories for all and sundry to see and really, how much do we care?

Facebook would be my preferred site and I like updating my photos for friends and family, throwing the odd comment in for good measure and occasionally spying on an ex to see if their current girlfriend is a dog or bears an eerie resemblance to my good self.

I do not however, change my relationship status every five minutes depending on whether or not I’ve had a fight with my significant other. In my days of dating, before mobile phones, before the dawn of the World Wide Web, if we had harsh words and a falling out, we simply avoided each other for the cooling-off period, or until one party, usually me, had calmed down.

Never would I have dreamed about posting what an arse he was on a page seen by hundreds of strangers. That’s a bit cruel I suppose, they wouldn’t all be strangers, but come on, let’s face it, if you haven’t spoken to that person since you were in nappies and they won’t be at your wedding, why divulge intimate details about your relationship to them?

Over the years, the only tool women had at their disposal was cancelling a date or withholding nookie (that one still works, I believe) but now we have a tool-bar to do all our work. The latest threat is ‘keep it up, I’ll change my relationship status!’ I have never updated my relationship status because basically it’s my business and no one else’s.

Yes, I do share my woes of life with a select group of friends, but in private. Has the world gone mad? Don’t get me wrong, I am all for these sites in connecting people and finding old friends, but in good taste.

The girl who recently posted that she was glad she decided not to keep the baby should be arrested. Not for the choice she made, but for her stupidity and morose need to share an extremely personal part of her life with the world. She got her five minutes of fame, but for all the wrong reasons.

The most I ever shared on Facebook was the demise of the unusually large spider that I found in my bathroom recently, who died at the hands of a ball of quilted tissue.

Social networking sites have opened a vast door to endless possibilities of friendships, relationships and family reunions, but on the minus side you have stalkers, bullies, potential serial killers, who knows what reading your page.

As I say, I’m not against networking sites, there’s nothing like kicking back and lazing about, laughing at the shenanigans of my fellow facebookers, but I am mindful of who I let in. You probably wouldn’t answer the door if they rang your bell so don’t let them fawn all over your precious photos and hopes and dreams.

On the other side of the social scene, you know, the one with the three dimensional people, the Licensed Vintners Association are urging people back to the pub. As if Irish people needed an excuse. They even poke fun at a particular site using their well-known phrases to catch the attention of the tetchy posse.

Funny, I thought we were still in a recession and staying in was the new going out. But ok, so as not to hurt the LVA’s feelings I’ll leave my laptop, go out and get hammered, spend too much money, have some snot nose tell me that I’m bleedin’ massive and stagger home with the bag of chips I promised I wouldn’t eat.

There are angels and demons on both sides, as you can see. No doubt, upon people reading this I’ll get bombarded with messages and new friend requests and maybe a few random death threats, but I will take it all in my stride.

After all, it’s just a page of my life, it’s not the real me. Oh, so you think you know me then? What can I say? Lol!