ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702100120
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO
SOURCE: Cox Newspapers
MOVE OVER, Ann Landers. The anonymity of cyberspace is proving the perfect venue for the lovelorn and confused seeking advice - and for a budding counselor gaining experience.
A high school student may be the Dear Abby of the World Wide Web.
Lesley Ann Jones, 18, launched her TeenSpeak site on the Internet Jan. 8, and the advice column for young computer browsers already has won national attention.
``The site got nearly 200,000 hits in January,'' said Bill Griffin, who owns Coax-Net Internet Service in Vandalia. The Internet provider helped Jones develop her Web pages and keeps a log of activity on each site.
That's a lot of people who have contacted TeenSpeak since Yahoo listed it as a Site of the Week and Netscape put it in What's New. ``This is the most successful Web site we've hosted,'' Griffin said.
Jones is scheduled to go on national television to talk about TeenSpeak. She has been invited to fly to San Francisco on Feb. 26 to appear on The Web, a Sci-Fi Channel program about computers.
The site has received more than 4,000 e-mails, including queries and comments from several foreign countries including Russia and Sweden.
``I'm so proud of her,'' said her father, Ben Jones. ``She has carved a little bit of history.''
Jones had one shortcut to the Internet: Her father owns Web M, a company that builds Web pages for woodworking companies and sellers of motorcycle accessories. ``I went to her and said, `Look, I'll fund a Web site for you if you come up with something to put there,''' he said. ``My intention was to get her familiar with the Internet, and when she came up with TeenSpeak, she just blew me away.''
Jones built a Web site where teens could ask questions and give the world ``a piece of your mind.'' She said the site fits her personality.
``I'm going to the University of Cincinnati, and I'm probably going to major in psychology because my friends say I'm good at helping people with problems - basically their boyfriend problems,'' she said with a laugh.
She works at her father's office, dropping in after school to screen the e-mail and compose replies. She built the site in 25 to 30 hours, working on dad's IBM PC.
``Every time I'd go look over her shoulder, she'd turn around and give me the old evil eye like, `Go away,''' he said. ``She pretty much did it herself.''
Lesley admits she has received a few inevitable crank messages, as well as invitations to dinner.
``I try to answer everybody, but there are some questions I try not to answer,'' she said, ``like one kid wrote and said, `My dog doesn't have a nose. How does it smell?' I try not to answer stupid questions, but I like giving advice.
``When I can make someone happy, it makes me happy.''
You can find TeenSpeak at http://www.teenspeak.com
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB