“Hey,” says 19-year-old Andy. “I got your E-mail. You wanted to talk about, uh, the Internet?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Blogs, specifically. I’m trying to figure some stuff out around that area. I thought talking to you and some of the others might be helpful. You know, get a historic perspective.”
He repeats the words “blogs,” and pauses for a long time. “You mean, like, LiveJournal?”
“Yes. Exactly like that. You don’t have one, right?”
“A LiveJournal? No.” He pauses again. “LiveJournals are more for, uh…teenagers, I think.”
“But you’re a teenager!” I regret saying this immediately.
He shrugs and looks annoyed. “I guess so. I’m a sophomore in college. I mean 14-year-olds.”
I change the subject. “That’s not your computer, right?”
He shakes his head. “No. It’s Jason’s. Do you talk to him anymore?”
I laugh. “No. Never. I haven’t heard from him in ten years. Probably more. I have no idea what became of him. Honestly, I don’t talk to anyone you know anymore, except Katie.”
He smirks. “Hmmm.”
“That doesn’t really disappoint you, does it? Not talking to anyone here ever again?”
“Well, no. Not really.” He looks around. “Actually, most of these people suck. They won’t even watch Barry Lyndon with me.”
“See, that’s it!” I exclaim. “It’s a social thing, isn’t it? All your Internet friends from STUFO on the Compuserve forums you typed long, crazy-ass letters to when you were a teenager. It’s the same thing with blogs. There’s a huge, huge social component.”
“All your friends now are Internet friends?” he asks, looking puzzled.
“Well, sort of, yeah. I mean, no, I see them all the time, in real life, but the distinction between real friend and Internet friend isn’t as clear-cut as you’re imagining.”
“Interesting. So instead of, uh, E-mailing or calling your friends to talk about, uh, your job and wife and family and what-not, you blog about it?”
I don’t say anything for a long time. “Well, no, not exactly.”
He looks more puzzled than ever. “What does our wife think?”
