batsgirl, your mention of loneliness, and your age got me thinking. I'm doing a PhD in computer science, I'm working on a system for older people (or elders as we call them) to make some of the things on the internet easier to use. The group I'm part of identified loneliness as the major problem, and so we've concentrated on communications, starting with instant messenger, and moving on to some other apps. The hope is that this will help older people reestablish their social networks. Of course, the average computer is basically impossible to use for most elders, so I'm designing systems that are much much simpler. But the reason I bring all this up, is you're the first young person I've come across who seems to be in the same predicament. I'd love to get some of your thoughts, and find out what you find makes life better online, so I can see if I can provide some of that for older people. If you're interested you can email me.... pete at surfaceeffect dot com.