LJ, Facebook, 43xxx, LibraryThing, Twitter, Friendster, MySpace… I use them pretty much exclusively as connections with real-life friends (old and new, distant and local). Others use them as a way to meet and interact with people they’ve never met. I write almost entirely honestly. Others … experiment with writing styles, voices, and ideas they’re curious about exploring in some way, in ways they wouldn’t interact with real-life friends. I use these sites as just another form of email, phone calls, letters, and real-life conversations, but they have a lot more potential than that, as demonstrated by how friends of mine use them.
I want to explore the ways others use these sites, discover what benefits there are to using them in different ways, see what I’m missing, and find out whether that opens me to new ways of thinking about the Internet, people, the world, acquaintanceship, friendship… and maybe life. Or maybe it will just eat up time I could be spending walking outside, breathing fresh air, and having conversations with old friends. Who knows! But it’s worth a try.
