It is odd to consider that MySpace and Facebook have become the primary form of communication between me and my friends. Perhaps because the version of yourself that you present there is your idealised, wittier, sexier, funnier you, it feels more natural than email - which, bizarrely, seems unnecessarily formal in comparison.

After a week without logging in, it became clear how much I relied on such sites. I immediately lost contact with three-quarters of my friends, most of whom I have no other contact details for. I felt like I was constantly missing out on the banter. More crucially, most of my social calendar is organised through Facebook.

Halfway through the month I had become used to not having the distraction, and was using the internet in a far more productive way. The feeling of isolation persisted, however. I tried to remedy this in the later stages of the month by attempting to translate Facebook and MySpace behaviour to the real world - poking people I liked the look of in clubs, and writing inane greetings on my friends' walls. I concluded that poking should remain in the domain of Facebook, and if you must write on people's walls, make sure you use a water-based marker pen.

However, after a month of feeling like an internet castaway, nothing makes you feel more popular than the welter of friend requests and messages that build up in the meantime. And thus, I get to spend an entire afternoon catching up - but going cold turkey again is not an option.