I wrote this in reply to a friend talking about the myspace phenom, and since I wrote a book in reply, I thought I'd stick it up on my xanga too. 

Hey friend,

Excellent post - I've talked to a few people about the phenomenon of blogging and online communications.  I'm with you - person-to-person contact is so much more valuable.  I think online communications have become a lazy way to stay in touch with people - I only have to post once about my life, and whoever is interested can sit down and read it.  There isn't a whole lot of intimacy involved with that, and it saves me having to write ten emails.  Isn't that terrible???

On the other hand, hooking up with so many of my friends and acquaintances of old would never happen with all of the "stuff" I jam into each week - therefore, myspace and xanga allows me to have all of these pseudo-relationships with people... maybe we could call them fast food friendships?...  Heaven forbid I pick up the phone and arrange for a coffee date with someone, drive a half hour to meet them, and spend two hours hanging out - there are more time-consuming activities to do, like work, clean the house, sleep, play with the baby, hang out with the husband... So in the end, we have more friends/acquaintances, more connections, less time to spend with them, and as a result, shallower relationships.  Is that overanalyzing the web-world, or am I on to something?

Now, I'll admit too, I'm on myspace.  I love it.  But like a twitch in my brain, a quiet alarm sounds every time I log on, saying, "this isn't enough".  Real, honest, human contact is missing.

I should post this on my xanga.  It's the most writing I've done in weeks!

Hope to chat soon :)  Love ya.