an old friend of mine said this about nine years ago - when the mmc ruled, usenet was not a tool for spam, tos’ing someone just branded you a crybaby and a sn who couldn’t hold their own in a flame war (although it was hard to beat neil ruble!) and everyone geeked out when aol added a fourth screen name option. now, 7 records and millions of dollars later, he has a couple screen names of his own, a message board, and likes setting the kids straight when they mouth off. funny how money and spare time change a person. back in 1996 i thought he was ridiculous and out of touch, but now i kinda find myself agreeing with that old sentiment. the internet sucks. what was once an anonymous field of dreams where you could talk about your one-night stand or your suicide attempt or your lack of understanding for buber with barney from ft. pierce or stella from kansas city has turned into a disgusting clusterfuck, a gross sticky spiderweb of people who’ve slept together or made out with each other or barfed in front of one another. and if you’re not involved, then you sure as hell know someone who is. your movements are tracked, not only IRL (lol!!!) but online as well – sites have cookies so you can get spammed, or worse – no longer stalk in peace. (with trackback, gone are the days when you could sigh over your crush’s personal homepage…) the internet isn’t bringing people together anymore, it’s dividing them. especially this fucking site, along with the lamest of the lame - livejournal and all of it’s incarnations. it’s all about the politics of friendships and relationships – “delete that comment off myspace!” pictures are forwarded to you that you wish you never saw, making you paranoid/sad/regretful (see also: n00Dz, you goddamn idiots.) posts are passed around like notes in junior high. which is what it is, really – westwood middle school in gainesville, rife with cliques and adults who should know better but really don’t. and then you have your trash, your true trailer park trash, who bait and switch like their last pig in a blanket depended on it. kids, let me clue you in on a little something – you do not know that person on the other end of your AIM, no matter how many late nights you’ve “spent” together. THAT person is made up. the REAL person is 40 years old, lives in chatahoochie, has the social skills of a slug, and wants to bury you in their backyard. there’s a reason people are online ALL THE TIME. think about it. so i’d like to thank my old friend who tried to warn me many years ago about how being online is soul sucking and about how casting your net around an ever-widening circle of friends will only get you into trouble mentally, emotionally, or physically. you can’t be something for everyone, and still be everyone for someone who counts.