You can learn a lot of things from someone on AM. We're all different people with different life's experiences. I think being able to so easily talk to different people online like this is a gift in a lot of ways. We might never have had the chance to "meet" otherwise.
That is the purpose for which Answerbag was started. It was a psych experiment regarding allowing people to answer real questions. The result was something they (the researchers) did not expect. With the AB format, the members quickly deserted the qNa purpose in favor of pure socializing. People like people more than information. Or is it need?
I have learned lots from people on the net. On this site however there seems to be very little private messaging than what was common on a previous site I was on.