Holopal

Holopals (also holo pals and holo-pals) were people who corresponded via a.

Logistics
Many holopals were children, who developed relationships with children of other species on other worlds, or in other areas on their homeworlds. While some children corresponded with their holopals from home, it was more common for entire classes to send messages from school, particularly in less affluent regions where private access to the HoloNet was rare.

Holopals could correspond through short s, typed datafiles, or both. Many holopals sought to learn languages from one another, and each would correspond in its own language, sometimes including a second datafile with the translation.

Some adults participated in holopal relationships as well.

History
In the, many had holopal connections; attempts were made to spread the concept into other regions, though scarcer availability of the HoloNet made holopal connections more difficult beyond the  and. During the era, the prevalence of  discouraged holopal relationships between Humans and non-Humans.

In the Golden Empire, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Integration, which maintained the Royal HoloNet, encouraged holopal relationships among schoolchildren and occasionally financed the installation of HoloNet transceivers in schools for that purpose when funding was available. During the, the Ministry usually ran ad campaigns to encourage starting new holopal relationships, and existing holopals often met one another in person.