I am going to focus mostly on the "social" aspect that many people have mentioned.

I first got on the internet in July of '94. My dad is a member of the local Rotary club, and they have an International Youth Exchange program. I signed up and got to go to Italy for 3 1/2 weeks. Before i went, though, an Italian girl came and stayed with us for the same amount of time. When she got there, my dad asked her if anyone in her family had email. (he was trying to save money on the phone bill). turned out her brother had internet access, so my dad set out to show us how to send email. He went on a search to find other 'fun' things he could show us on the internet, and came up with IRC (Internet Relay Chat, as if you didn't know).

Three weeks later, when i left for Italy, i had already met (in person) one of my new "friends" from IRC. I also demanded that i have my own internet account set up by the time i got home. ;)

Needless to say, i was already a hopeless addict. it wasn't until probably 3 years later that i first started exploring the web, and i never really did much with it until the past year or two. But those first two or three years, IRC was my life. I skipped classes in college because i was in the middle of a conversation. i stayed up all night and slept just a few hours before going to work, only to come right home afterwards and do it all again.

I have literally lost count of how many people i have met "In Real Life" from IRC or mailing lists, but i think the number is somewhere near or maybe even over 100. i have only had one meeting go "badly" and that was the only person that i never spoke to again.

This brings me around to my points. first, the internet was definately a very social medium for me. i made friends easier and opened up more. but the downside was that my "real" life suffered for it. i don't really think i would have done much better in school, but i might have passed one or two more of my classes. I actually had "real life" friends get internet access just so that they could get a hold of me.

I have made many many friends, and even had a boyfriend whom i met on IRC. I wouldn't be where i am today, in a great, well-paying job, if it weren't for people i had met through the internet. But i am saddened by the fact that i did lose some friends who were actually close enough to see on a regular basis, simply because i was spending all of my time on the 'net.

Now that i have rambled all of this, i am not sure what my final point is. I guess it is that everything has two sides. I have no clue where i would be today if my dad hadn't introduced me to IRC. Maybe i would be in a better place, maybe not, but i wouldn't change much if i had to do it over again.

Catti"did i even have a point?"brie