I just read an interesting post over on misbehaving.net by Danah Boyd that made me pause and think for a bit. She asks:

So, i have to ask... what kinds of social/emotional support does technology provide you? How? Is this about supporting everyday interactions or providing access to a whole new world of support? [misbehaving.net]

I think it's a combination of supporting everyday interactions and providing access. For instance, almost all my friends have email. It provides a nice way for trying to plan events and keep in touch randomly. Even when you don't have time to call someone and chat for a bit you can always sent off a quick message saying 'hi'. On the other side of things, I've been mudding for, uh, longer than I want to admit and I can say that has given me access to a whole other level of support. I have people I've known online for years who I have never met face to face who I consider to be friends. We've known each other through school, through some of us getting married, some of us getting divorced, children, and so on. I'm connected to those worlds pretty much all the time, and check in on them during the day much like I do email.

I may add to this a bit later, but it's early and I need coffee before writing anything more.