I was a very lonely + isolated child then teenager, no doubt cos of my undiagnosed autism. When I think about these things alongside IRC, really made me feel able connect with people in a way I didn't know how in real life. Really kept me going, not sure if I would be here still today without them.
I learned so much from those early interactions even if maybe there isn't a lot of people I am still in touch with from those days. Obviously goes without saying the negative issues for young people with modern social media today, but back then for me at least felt a net positive.
I never got into IRC and barely used ICQ (or AOL), but Yahoo! IM and MSN Messenger were a godsend for a teen living in the middle of nowhere in a new county
That lonely suffocating tiny world got so big, and anything seemed possible didn't it? I used to think of people I interacted with regularly as genuine friends.
Likewise! And some of them I did go onto meet irl, including going on frequent nights out with a couple of the more local ones. Still friends with a few of them on friendface as well
