Member-only story
AOL Raised Me Better Than This
Before feeds, before followers — just presence and possibility. Reimagining connection in a world of digital noise.
Back in high school, one of my favorite times of day was right after dinner.
In my parent’s house, there is this ancient dining table — well over 100 years old — that creaked loudly anytime someone moved, or honestly, just breathed weirdly near it. Weeknights meant sitting down with family for a homecooked meal, catching up, sharing small wins or gripes from the day, and then scattering to our corners of the house. For me, that meant wrapping up homework and firing up the family computer to hop online.
These were the days of AOL Instant Messenger and MSN — when usernames were clever, statuses were poetry, and away messages could be as layered and revealing as a diary. It was magical in its own way. Logging on meant slipping into five or six different conversations at once, each with its own texture. One friend might be venting about a class, another sharing news about their latest crush, and another cracking jokes that made no sense out of context. It was like wandering through a series of living rooms without ever leaving your desk chair. A carnival of emotional and intellectual connection, unfolding quietly behind a glowing screen.
