My weekend's moment of epiphany came while talking to some net friends at an MJ dinner party on Sunday evening.

I was talking about the parallels between blogging and my recently purchased and viewed DVD of Pump Up the Volume (I'll have more to say on that later) and Paris (was it Paris? If not, I hope someone corrects me) said that weblogging (and journaling) is fulfilling the promise of the internet.

Big words, I thought.

But really, when the Net was just real enough to be a promise, everyone wisted about how it would bring everyone closer, crossing borders and cultures, leaping over oceans and preconceptions, and we'd meet people we'd never have met, and share our inner thoughts about the local worlds that surround each of us.

Pah. That's what they said about the phone, but who's going to call random people in Thailand? And of course, when the Net promise was realized first in email, it didn't do much for global unity. Who are you going to email? People you already know. Who will you want to hear from? People you already know.

Why? Because strangers are stranger.

That's the thing about the blogs. Anyone with net access can start one (and more importantly, they do without feeling a technological barrier to entry, thanks to Blogger, Livejournal, and the others), and they're inviting the world to read.

And more importantly, the world does.

When I decided to open Fury to comments, I was ready to shut it off just as quick if things got ugly. Now I hear from at least 8 people a day, sometimes a bunch more. I know you, Contessa, and Lou (err, both of you). I know you Phreaky, Alec, Liz, and David (all three of you).

I have no idea who most of you are, what you do, where you're from, but it doesn't matter as much as the views you share. I probably know in real life about 1/3 of the people who comment, and maybe 1/10 of the people who read Fury, yet I talk to you, and you talk to me.

That's the power of the internet. It's here, it's growing, and it's warm and fuzzy. err, in the good way...