Raelyn joined myspace a few days ago. On her LJ, she talks about the reason she joined. Namely, to reconnect with friends she made on a chat site. And that brought all sorts of memories flooding back to me.

I began college during the summer of 1996. Not knowing anyone on campus, and wanting to find a quick and easy way to connect with others, I became a chat room addict regular. The site I frequented the most? WBS, the Webchat Broadcasting System. I remember making friends with all sorts of people in the two rooms I frequented, Teen (16-19) Chat (I still qualified for a year or two), and Christian Chat (which I found during a moment of panic the night before my first physics exam). The friendships I made still last to this day with two women, Amy and Rae.

Bad thing was that the site (along with chat programs such as ICQ and PowWow) nearly took the place of face-to-face interaction for me during college. Yes, I went to the occasional party, but many a good study night was lost to the messages sent and recieved online. I used to say that it was a spirit group that caused me to not do so hot my first few years in college. Honestly, it was chatting that did most of the damage.

Nowadays, I'm still guilty of the same thing, only replace "WBS" with "MySpace." I'd almost rather meet a gal online than through more traditional means. I'm getting better at offline chatting, don't get me wrong. But "LOL"s and smileys can only go so far.

Anyway, a small glimpse into my past.