How has internet social networking helped you in the real world?

Disclosure: In a cycle of depression, I withdrew from everything in my life. Discarded friends, stopped answering the phone etc. and this went on for months. This isn’t a specifically Fluther question, but I did change because of the validation I found on this site.

I went from an “entity making a decent pretense at being human” to actually feeling connections. That led to my seeking therapy to integrate the connected feeling into my everyday life and it’s working.

So, I see social networking as a valuable therapy/healing tool. Have any of you experienced this?