There was a time when being onLe meant being special, not just through a blazing dial-up 56k modem, but through broadband on coaxial cable. People would ask me why I was always 'green'.  They never understood of course. I always felt IM had that perfect balance of alter-ego and real-life. You expressed yourself through your nick. It changed often, but not too often, usually only with significance. Often it was explicit, but more often subtle. Your nick was the calLg card for others to chat you up. It defined your present state of mind. It gave you identity, yet availed yourself to be clouded in a shroud of mystery. Then something happened. 'It' came along and glorified the private into the public domain. No more room for subtle thought because judgment came on more strongly. The platform of private thoughts within people whom you actually wanted to care about was gone. So did my friends, they left,  joined this new world, grew up, made many more new friends, became another person, and never came back. A trag
edy, forever scarred. Dear friend, I don't want to meet, I just want to chat, because I can express myself better through text. But I suppose only the geek in me would understand.