I had first started talking to friends and strangers on the internet via AOL Instant Messenger in the early 2000s. I’d rush home from middle and then high school every day to message people I may or may not have even made eye contact with in the halls. I’ll admit I was a bit of a fanatic early adopter, but I wasn’t alone—there were always at least a dozen other kids logged on at the same time, and I remember regularly keeping a handful of conversations going at once, well into the night.
