ICQ - hiding behind the screen

When we first got Internet at home, I was about 13 years old. It was exciting times. As a teenager it is quite comforting sit behind a screen and talk to people in different chat rooms, pretending to be someone you're not. I was online all the time. The problem was that we all used public chat rooms that was filled up with other people, and this was mainly people that wanted to tell the world about their sexual fantasies that we didn't really want to hear about. Then we discovered ICQ. ICQ is a "personal communication tool that allows users to meet and interact through instant messaging services". It works exactly like msn messenger; you add your contacts, they show up on a list and you can communicate through instant messages. So now, with out the tragic middle aged men disturbing our conversations we occupied the phone line for hours (this also meant that no one could call the home phone during this time, but that didn't bother us too much). It was always exciting to get online and see who else was online. Because of the anonymity and the chance to be who ever you wanted behind the screen you could talk about anything with anyone. This gave people a chance to cross social borders and conversing with people they never would talk to in real life. When bumping in to these people at school or down at the shops it was always a bit awkward. It was ok to talk online but not anywhere else.
I have (or more had) friends that go stuck in this. They created this identity online, safe behind the screen, where they could be who ever they wanted and say whatever they wanted. This on the expense of their real personality and real life. One of my friends, as far as I know, are still having massive problems in his social life and basically lives through Internet communication. And I'm sure he's not the only one. The marked is growing by the second and today there is still probably no better way to contact people our age then through Facebook. You can find people from all different times of you life and you can communicate without have to take any social responsibility. Our generation, in many ways, communicates like this (this is only based on my everyday life as a part of this generation): If we don't feel like seeing some, we call them (on their mobiles, not on their home phones). If we don't feel like talking, we text. If we don't feel like texting we send messages on Facebook. For every step we take we communicate on a less and less personal level.
I'm not trying to say that we should stop using Internet for communication, I don't mind it at all, but I think that there is a risk with totally hide yourself behind the screen and never deal with things in the real world.