We cried together. We prayed together. We held each other up and encouraged each other. We celebrated each others victories and grieved each others defeats.

In the span of 3 years we intervened in several suicide threats, a few sexual molestation accusations, parents who didn't care and parents who over-reacted. We had cutters and liars and homosexuals and heterosexuals and chronic "self gratifiers". We had teens that made Craigslist dates. You name it, we saw it.

For most of us, we never saw each others faces. We were just digital words on a screen. We loved each other in a pure, clean sense of the word, and we love each other still even though I turned the community over to the next group of leaders.

Online relationships can be more real and authentic than real life ones because we have nothing to lose. We can be our real, honest selves almost immediately without the fear of losing the love or respect of a Mom or a Dad or a friend forever.

Part of the problem with the online world is that you are free to be anonymous and you find yourself doing things you would never do in front of other people. But part of the beauty of the online world is the same exact thing. It can be a liberating place to find a rag-tag band of lost souls just like you where you can finally be free to say, "I hurt" and know that the person on the other side of the screen has felt the exact same pain.

peace|dewde

I paused to wonder about these distant "friendships." How many folks consider a celebrity a friend because of a Twitter follow or Facebook connection? On the other hand, how many friendships have been revived because of the new ability to connect across space and time?

I don't follow many celebrities. Those that I do follow have interesting things to say (or maybe their paid "friends" have interesting things to say). Because I live where many "stars" hide away, I've seen the worts so prefer the person over the star. I don't consider any of them my friend, and I doubt I would attend a party if invited over Twitter.

On the other hand, I recently connected with my best friend from high school through email. Interestingly, due to illness she doesn't remember much of high school, so our friendship is renewing in the now rather the then. We would not have this connection without the new technology.

The expanded tribal experience is so many other societal changes — good and bad can be expected. I appreciate certain tribal experiences, like this one. Others I withdraw from, preferring to closer personal experience.