Facebook and Italians...

An interesting thing has happened over the past couple of weeks in cyber space: Italians seemed to have discovered the new(?) online social network Facebook and let me tell you it has been interesting to see how an Italian uses it compared with my US friends and contacts.
First of all, Italians view it as a way to "collect" as many friends as possible- similar to the way people collect baseball cards or soccer cards - le figurine Panini. I guess this urge to expand one's collection of online friends is not uniquely Italian but it does seem like the more one accumulates the more one wants. Is there such thing as Facebook greed?
Secondly, Facebook for Italians is more of a public digital piazza where one can display who and what they are interested in. I think most Americans (am speaking for myself of course) see it more of a way to keep in touch and make contacts, not necessarily flaunt how many friends we have in our contact list. While both US and Italian Facebook afficinadoes do use Facebook as a platform for voicing opinions socially by adhering to groups and causes, I have to admit some Italian groups are quite superficial and even elitist. For example, many Italian groups tend to hint a social status in an attempt to to become friends with VIPs.
Without a doubt, Facebook has made the world a smaller place where we are all linked somehow in this amazing web of interconnectedness. But it will always be used differently and for diverse ends depending on the person using it and where. For most Italians, I think it is like an accessory (look what I have) whereas for most Americans it's like a business card (look what I can do).