The site boasts three million active members, company officials said this week. Numerous relationships have already developed between people who appear to share little, if anything, in common. Through career annoyances and personal crises, the two women have offered one another advice and comfort. For instance, when the Virginia woman endured the death of a close friend, her new online friend in the Middle East was there to provide support. This type of dialogue is repeated over and over again among the site's 1,300 diarists and an unknown number of readers.
Some conversations encompass three, four, five people or more.
But the interplay isn't always so positive. And while the friendships and conflicts that emerge in online communities are similar to friendships and conflicts in the physical world, some experts predict that as community sites grow and change, people will discover these sites can serve new purposes. Few have watched this Web-community paradigm unfold with more anticipation than Howard Rheingold . It's a complex thing. That's stretching it too far.