Every once in a while I hear or read some complaint that we all spend too much time online, to the detriment of actual physical human relationships. Indeed, if you buy that line of thinking, then perhaps Enthusiast Group websites are part of that problem.

Of course, I don't think that's true -- and actually our websites are about connecting people. So this week I was pleased to see on YourClimbing.com some evidence that we are creating real-world friendships.

Check this out.

A member of YourClimbing.com from Colorado Springs, who had joined only 3 weeks earlier but quickly had become one of the site's most active members, used the site to invite other local climbers to come out and help him celebrate his 38th birthday.

To his surprise, 8 other climbers showed up at the crag to join him, his wife and 2 kids. He posted a thank you note to the YourClimbing.com staff, plus this photo of the group of no-longer-strangers.

While that's one of the more touching stories that we hear from users of our web communities, it's not unusual. Especially on YourClimbing.com, we routinely hear about climbers who found each other on the site and have started climbing together.

Social networking sites like ours are not just about sitting for hours in front on a computer screen.