talking about the “retro” earlier today reminded me of something that i still find to have been one of the most valuable forms of online communication, which somehow got lost on the way during the last decade. i’m talking about ICQ :) i think the whole idea was simply brilliant: to be able to begin to communicate with others, and meet new people only on the basis of common interests. you’d just drop a line to someone from another continent, or you’d get a pop-up message regarding a band you mentioned in your icq-info. and in contrast to nowadays forms of online “socializing”:

1. the communication over icq wasn’t based on any physical appearances (most people didn’t have any profile photos), but only on shared interests, 
2. icq wasn’t primarily a dating site, but simply a way of meeting friends, 
3. there was a communication going on, and not some impersonal reblogging, liking etc.

i met some really great people over icq, and its a shame not only the program, but its basic idea disappeared in the sea of impersonal, boring, dull, online socializing.