Lately, it seems as though more and more of my friends are getting sucked into the habit of socializing primarily online. Facebook and MySpace are nothing new, but the number of people I know that dedicate time everyday to maintaining their “virtual lives” is startling.

For example, my birthday was a few weeks ago and every time I checked my e-mail throughout the day, I had a flood of new messages directing me to check out the latest comments on my Facebook wall.

After ignoring the messages for the better part of the day, I decided to check my wall before bed.

When all was said and done, I had a whopping 73 different happy birthday comments. The sight of my newly desecrated wall caught me quite off guard because, you see, I didn’t even think I even had 73 friends. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly grateful for all my lovely e-friends that sent me messages. I was delighted to hear from people I haven’t seen since high school, even if it was just a bunch of generic birthday messages. But at the same time, I’m a little distraught about how technology is resculpting the way college students interact and communicate.

Last year on my birthday, I maybe had a total of 10 to 20 people wish me a happy birthday between Facebook, e-cards and phone calls combined – and they were all people that sincerely meant what they said.

This year, it seems I’ve become so easily accessible that mere acquaintances – some of which I hardly know – felt inclined to wish me the best on my special day.

Crap, man. 73 messages could easily go to my head, but I’m going to attribute it to the fact that Facebook has become much more than a useful tool – it’s become a religion. It’s a game, similar to real-life socialization, only much more pathetic and way less cool.

My little sister can’t go a day without checking her MySpace account and making sure she has written a message to every single one of her friends, guaranteeing that she will hear back from them the next day.

The messages are seldom anything meaningful, but the more you send, the more e-friends you have and the more e-cool you seem to be. Oh, and if you host generic pictures of your friends on your page, you gain extra brownie points toward your e-status.

You see, I’ve been a part of the game. I’ve been caught up in “poke wars” with random friends and quite enjoyed it.

I’ve wasted hours writing clever haikus on the walls of unsuspecting Facebook users and spent late nights reading about what friends from high school have been up to — always making sure to check out their latest party pictures.

The only problem is, when I do see them again in real life, it’s as if I’m in an alternate dimension.

Of course I’ve read all about their new television interests, catchy quotes and their recent promotion at K-Mart, but e-lives and real lives are far from the same thing.

Anybody can be e-cool if they spend enough hours hacking out meaningless messages on a keyboard in their room alone, but take my advice – it’s not worth it.

Your relationships will be much more gratifying if you make them happen in real life. People are cool. Each one is composed a little differently than the rest, each one looks and talks differently than the rest, and each one has his or her own unique quirks and imperfections.

Next time you sit down at your desk for a nice chat session, think about picking up your phone and calling an old friend. Play basketball.

Go out to dinner. Make a movie. For crying out loud, do something that you can cherish and remember years down the road.

– Dan McClanahan is a sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication. He is a Daily Pulse Editor.