Social Networking: Better or worse than the real thing?

My topic of "Social Networking: Better or worse than the real thing?" will discuss the pros and cons to both sides of the scenario.  I for one think the real think it is better but you can reach more people using the internet.  They're a lot of different entities and tools that go into this topic and I believe New Media will be a large part of it.  This doesn't just apply to social settings, it can go into many different types of businesses and organizations.