or, the presentation of self in chat
My kibbutz has a computer room for its elementary and high school students. Normally there are three working computers there, mostly doing overtime running various games. A number of months ago an internet account was established for the room, and I was asked to sit with some of the kids and help set guidelines for its use.
I spoke with the kids about what they might be able to do via the web, and about using e-mail, and after some very basic guidelines were established I asked to be kept informed about what sort of things they used it for.
The high school kids (invariably boys) reported to me that during Shabbat, when they had more or less unlimited access, they spent all their time in chat groups, meeting mostly girls from around the world, and getting into arguments with anti-Israel chatters. Never having been caught by the chat bug myself, I asked them what it was that attracted them to it, and their answer was incredibly up-front - it was a way to meet people.
A discussion of chat groups is a logical place for a comic, and especially so in a column which has been totally devoid of any graphics. Rather unsurprisingly, a large percentage of comics that deal with internet related material examine the relationships that develop through it. Most of these deal with adults meeting adults, though occasionally they're about kids (which would, of course, be more fitting for this page). From the many that I've come across I've chosen one which is quite representative. It relates to an e-mail relationship, but could just as well be about chat.