Social Networking: Better or worse than the real thing?

In today's society, social networking affects people's lives in various ways. Social networking provides a place for people to share their thoughts, stories and many other stuffs. People enjoy the benefits from it because it is very easy to access and it saves people a lot of time. The more people involve in the technology dominated world, the more people rely on it. Is it better to "meet up" online or in real person? There is no exact answer to this question. I will find out the pros and cons of each side on my research.