Thom Collins- represent O.K.L.A.H.O.M.O Sexual, tis me! Were doing fine OKLAHOMa city Okay. I see my Sister Tulsa in da house and love this experiment. Just in case I pull a Kate Winslet I wrote a little something if honored with such a noble duty to represent my Twisted Sisters here on the belt buckle of the bible belt. If not it was just an honor to try and make sense of this observation as to stay on point and not go all Wild Tangent up in here. This is how I see it and I have seen allot.
Picture it Midwest Oklahoma City 1995 just opening a non for profit HIV/AIDS foundation Open Your Heart org. Always one to be a step ahead understanding the power of publicity a close girlfriend signed me up to a then Large but still communal AOL 1.5 giving me the Handle name ThomPoz. Remember the famous "Inter webs" didn't go mainstream until 1998. This is my point and how it all relates to this project on Facebook. If NOT for the GLBT community keeping those memberships/cash flow to AOL servers always UP for a good time at all hours of the day getting served a daily dose of just how friendly the GAYS who by no fault of our own are 1st in line to be condemned/hated on, or beaten but at the same time this then uncharted Internet and Cyberspace began to introduce Netscape or a new app called a search engine like Yahoo all would profit through growth and expansion as to one day be able to chat around the world but someone (Al Gore?) or something had to host it.
So 1995 prior and after AOL kept many a members happy with the somewhat original dose of a very BUSY GLBT Communal Networking of it's time knocking the 976 party lines off their throne before they realized the now Infamous M4M "CHAT ROOMS" were fresh,overloaded, exciting, and new. Just those three years alone AOL saw a spike in memberships and they were not from housewives for scrap booking ideas. Plus it was FREE! Honey we were at the party and as a Veteran of AOL I still have my chats/hosted HIV/AIDS private hosted monthly chat printed on dot.matrix printer. Knowing it impossible to try and compete with the ever changing M4M basic inquiry to years later so very creative M4BiM/Tran under 30 Chat rooms.Turned on and over by the time mainstream America could say Who Where What or -www..dotcoms were just learning the difference between the animal Mouse and the computer mouse and the idea of the Personal computer/Media/Video/Music/Entertainment basically as we now know and love didn't get off so to speak with such excitement invested money into the future of the World Wide Web and Silicon valley .dot Busted. My friends still built my website in 1998 sadly she is still up and gets email to date but archaic html gives a glimpse or a snapshot if you will of what the net was like 10 plus years ago.
If not for it along with being pro active participating in, learning, meeting, enriching my own personal life in so many ways I firmly believe if NOT for our vibrant and colorful GLBT communities feel the way in which WE the People share information via myspace, Friendster, and this Million GLBT experiment on Facebook may have looked very different... do you follow me??? This is just an opinion and is posted to be debated but is Facebook when you step back and as a past AOL volunteer or if you participated back in the mid 90's basically just a more interesting, and fun way to stay in touch through more ways than just text, but video, music, and photos still just ONE BIG CHAT ROOM of the past? What has changed socially today which was not in place 10 years ago. Kids this is progress. Why tell such a long tale because when we finally get all of OUR EQUAL rights and maybe a month of gay history I would love the answer to my theory when someone crunches the numbers allowing history to record the GLBT played a pivotal role in the way WE the People, Network, communicate, play, meet, learn, date, and relate to each other Gay, Straight, Christian, Muslim, Black or White in the 21st century.
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