We all know the sterotypes of gamers.  We are loners who hang out in basements and we don't have real friends, we are anti-social, ect, ect.   
 
This is not true. 
 
We have friends, real friends, great friends that we all try to keep in touch with. Over the last few months, I've realized that I have been playing a lot more Xbox Live, not only to play all the games coming out, but more as a way to talk to my friends who have moved away. 
 
Let me go ahead and state before I go any further that, I don't like to talk on the phone, I don't have a Twitter.  The best and only reason to have twitter is Ice - T, which I just read anyway.  I mostly use Facebook and text to stay in touch.  I play on Xbox Live alot, but typically don't talk much, unless I am on a team of people and we are actually working together.  Sadly, most of the time, it's 12 year olds calling everyone terrible names, or just cursing because they think its cool.
 
I started using Xbox live more once a good friend of mine moved a few states away due to school, work and being married.  We would get on Live and play Modern Warfare 2, but also use it as a chance to catch up.  This also led to improved skills in MW2.......not a bad side effect.  The key here is to start a private chat.
 
This continued into Red Dead Redemption.  RDR multiplayer is infinitely better if you play it with friends.   Now, my brother and I have discovered that we can play Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood while chatting over Xbox Live.
 
It's things like this that encourage me to use Xbox Live / PSN more to not only game, but to stay in touch.   Without these services, I have realized that I wouldn't talk to alot of the people I know that have moved off near as much as I do now.