Student "edition" found at {csi dot journalspace dot com}.

Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

This post is in reaction to the fact that the college students' online forums are up, running and active, and I don't know - yet - if I will post it where the students can read it.

Filipinos are already naturally a social people, that's why when text messaging, e-mail, chatting, networking sites and instant messaging became available, each was embraced wholeheartedly.

I admit I went through the phase (I call it a phase, now) when I would be - to put it mildly - addicted to each, opening my e-mail several times a day, joining several mail discussion groups and replying on almost every thread or leaving my messenger on all day, greeting every friend that went online.

But I eventually got tired of that. The novelty of communicating with people near-instantaneously even though we are all miles away from each other lost its appeal, partly because there are some people who take advantage of the non-face-to-face factor to be more brazen that they would have dared to be when there is a possibility of coming to physical blows.

Besides, even without bodily presence, psychic vampires have found a way to feed of their victims without leaving the comfort of their own armchair. This isn't helped by the fact that if one doesn't use smileys and other emoticons profusely or put precautionary (flame-retardant) disclaimers in your statements, there are people out there who will take every opportunity to misunderstand what you are trying to say.

I realized that I have gone back to one of my first activities online, back when it was all text, which was to read - newsgroups back then, writings of perfect strangers, to the online journals of close friends nowadays. My own writing I've limited to these pages, and not for want of reactions at that.

If I wanted people to react to what I say, I would have posted it in a forum or a mailing list. Besides, at least with the student version, I want the kids who are ambitioning to write articles in newspapers daily not to rely on reactions, but to have the resources to keep throwing words and ideas out there, regardless of whether anyone is reading.

Session 1419 lived for replies to their posts. Class dismissed.