These days, it seems like everyone is jumping on the social networking bandwagon.

Sure, Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare are great ways to connect to old friends, promote businesses, and keep up with the times, but are they making individual connections less personal? Are these outlets blurring the lines between private and public information?

Admittedly, I am a hardcore Facebook user. I’ve had it for 5 years, and regularly check and update my profile. I am able to see old friends and know what’s going on in their lives. I can scan over their profiles and know in seconds if they’re in relationship, have a job, and even if their mom is on Facebook. Obviously that person must want me to know what is going on in their life to let me see so much within a matter of seconds, right?

Maybe not.

I have 1100 friends on Facebook. But, how many of those “friends” do I communicate with regularly? Probably less than 100. And I know I’m not alone. Each day, millions of people recount their thoughts, actions and feelings to hundreds or thousands of their Facebook friends — information they likely wouldn’t share with many of those people face-to-face.

Isn’t it weird to think that 1000+ people know what I’m doing right now?

When you stop and think about it, yes.

Of course, Facebook isn’t all bad. People can keep in touch over long distances, and those that travel often are able to stay connected to people at home. They can write on their family members’ walls; have conversations over instant messenger; and stay in touch, informed, and involved in their lives.

As Facebook’s popularity has spread from college students to the general population, fan pages have started popping up everywhere from Getloaded to the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Whether it’s a TV show or a company, if you “like” someone’s page, you are able to see all the information they post — making your connection to the entity more personal, as if you know them in real life. Liking a fan page is a great way to support your favorite companies, causes and shows, but the danger comes when people forget that a virtual relationship does not take the place of real friendships or actions.

In other words, you might be friends with someone or “like” a page, but a real relationship runs deeper than occasional online interaction.

Consider Twitter.

Many people use Twitter like it is the new cool kids’ table in the lunchroom, where whoever has the most to share runs the table. You follow them, they follow you and each person has to make sure their tweets are interesting to not lose followers. It is all a game of retweets, mentions, and staying relevant. How personal you get with information you share and responses to people you have never met can determine your Twitter popularity for a time. Just as gossip fades, lasting success on Twitter is about balancing the information you share, so that it is meaningful, engaging and popular — not just blurting out whatever you think.

Like Twitter, Foursquare is a tool that allows you to say where you are and what you are doing at any given time. How much information is too much to share? Is this a danger to working professionals that travel all the time? Or is it a good thing to know where a friend is and maybe catch up occasionally? For some saying where they are at any given moment is no big deal, but when the wrong people are following your movements, this constant updating can end up being something very dangerous. There’s even a website called Pleaserobme.com that shows how oversharing your whereabouts can help burglars know when you are not at home.

In the past you just didn’t share certain information with people. Family problems stayed within the family and fights between friends stayed between friends. Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare have changed that and now everyone is included in the problems and fights. Instead of calling a friend to catch up, you Facebook chat and message them, write on their wall, or mention them in a tweet. Each of these connections is impersonal.

These days, drawing the line between what is a friendly, personable “hello” and what is an impersonal and disconnected substitute for real friendship is hard.

Long gone are the days of phone calls, hang outs, and letters. Twitter and Facebook are the new ways that people communicate with one another. The personal touches that people used to add will no longer be felt with this new surge of impersonal communication.

And what will be the result? Just as they always have, relationships will thrive and suffer, people will connect and disconnect. But, now the difference between private and public information will cease to exist. I’ll let you — and time — be the judge of whether or not our communication revolution is a regression or progression.