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Everyone I know is all over the Internet

There is no shame in going into length about away messages, blogs, or social networking sites like Facebook. At first exposure, a discourse like this one comes off as an meaningless pursuit - to dwell on the miniature, vapid compositions of my generation. But the fact of the matter is that I spend a larger part of my day reading AIM profiles than I do engaged in the more important matters - family, love, career, the world at large. Some might scoff at the banality of pop culture, its irrelevance to the bigger picture. Yet these insignificant experiences contribute to a great deal of that bigger picture.

Read more about the online Gen-Y phenomena at New York Magazine

My generation (The Millenials or Generation Y - neither have really caught on) is developing a lifestyle that is increasingly entwined with the Internet. We plan get-togethers through email, catch up via chat, share personas on social networking sites. With every new account we set up, our demographic is "out there" more than ever. How many avenues are available for one to make a presence on the Internet? And most of us are taking advantage of several at a time. But why bother?

I used to believe that mystery and anonymity were the more powerful forces that draw people together. But then I consider my own inclinations. I love reading away messages. I love stalking Facebook. Not to discover new factoids or to develop friendships. I enjoy these activities for re-learning things I already know. I briefly mentioned this experience before - the nebulous sense of comfort that comes with re-reading your friends' profiles. What brings us closer together is the ease of reaffirming our friendships. It's weird to declare it like that - the Internet helps me maintain friendships. As I have caught up with some of my friends after graduating, we all agree - if it weren't for Facebook and away messages, we would feel completely disconnected from one another.

The internet provides us the resources to micro-manage our relationships. Not just to keep in touch, but to strengthen our social bonds. By sharing photos and mentioning one another online, we reaffirm the social circles to which we already belong. I believe that is the driving force behind our compulsions to tag one another in photos and leave comments on one another's pages. Sometimes we are more excited about re-living the moment in the future than we are about experiencing it in the present. How many times have you heard something to likes of "I cannot wait to see these pics" ? I wonder if this "nostalgia microcosm" is propelling us to keep putting ourselves online.

Too much information is never enough

The latest frontier of the online experience is the minute-by-minute realm, currently being explored by sites like Groovr, Tumblr, Vox, and most notably Twitter. Twitter works as a micro-blog, where you post what you are doing every couple of hours. Its beginning to catch on among the early adopters, replacing the functionality away messages provide. Facebook has a similar feature. What sets these sites and features apart from the former online kingdoms of LiveJournal or Blogger is how they are aimed to be fickle - interested in just surface-level interaction. I can't imagine journalers going on an emotive tirade on Twitter. A simple "Delighted by the wonders of a toaster oven" would suffice.

Going over the array of Web 2.0 social networks, its inevitable that this over-abundance can be overwhelming and tedious. If I make a trip up to Philly for a weekend, do I have to update my away message, upload pictures on Facebook and make mention of it on Twitter?

Dude - Whatever happened to all those pics we took last week? Am I not good enough for you to post 'em?

I often feel socially obliged to perform those activities. I know I put this pressure on my friends. And there's plenty of trouble to get in when you don't mention going on a date with the g/f in an away message. If only our fathers knew the lengths young men go to avoid the qualms of nagging girlfriends in the Internet Age. Many of the relational nuances both men and women now face lie in the realm of new media. A couple weeks ago I was had a conversation about whether or not you had to call on Valentine's - or would a couple heartfelt texts suffice.

As we enmesh our identities in the online universe, its helpful to take a step back and realize just how our behavior has developed. While the Internet has obviously aided us in how we stay together, we now face new challenges doing so. Should we welcome this new age of online-ever-presence? Or will this path lead to such overbearing complexity, it will collapse the social structures it was originally designed to support.