Online Journals

http://www.livejournal.com/users/pleasereadmypointlessblograndompeople/

Damn too long to see

Yo, Cless, I think you’re generalizing a bit much. Okay, the real reason for a journal is to put down your thoughts, so you can understand them a little bit better, you know? Like, it gives voice to feelings of restlessness or confusion or sadness, which, having been written down, are more easily understood, and can more easily be worked through. That’s the point of journals.

The point of them being online is just that it brings people that much closer together. They can see that their friends also have just as much inner turmoil and stupid, silly feelings as they do, and that’s comforting. People do care, even if it is for selfish reasons. That’s the truth. It just makes me feel closer to my friends to read their thoughts, and know that they read my thoughts, even if they don’t comment. Makes me feel more connected and less alone in my deepest self of selves. I don’t really like too much mental privacy; it’s so easy to stew selfishly in your own pain (or happiness!), and not let anybody know about it.

And Eva, sometimes people feel too pained about their situation to be able to carry on a 1 on 1 conversation with someone, and those messages/replies give them the feelings of support and friendliness, without having to be there physically, feeling like they need to rationalize their feelings to a live person, or something.

Yeah but doing that all the time…wouldn’t it start to get unhealthy?

I dunno. I made it clear in my last post that I kinda went and generalized :\ I never got the trend. But whatever if it feels good do it.

I kinda agree with Cless, but more with Evan.

I think a journal is somewhere you write, privately, to vent. It’s a book (or whatever) about the feelings you can’t let out elsewhere, so the paper serves the purpose of allowing you an output for your otherwise private feelings.

Thus, an online journal is a public way to share the feelings you need to let out, but feel you need to keep private. It doesn’t make sense to me.

But hey, if it makes you feel more relieved or whatever, good for you, and write away. I personally don’t do it because of I would just feel awkward and dumb.

I guess I feel like it’s kind of healthy to let go of the notion of “private feelings,” and not feel like I need to protect the potentially sinful things in my mind from the prying eyes of the world. Maybe it’s true that the world doesn’t actually care about them, but it feels good to let them out into the world, and accept that they’re there, like…not stew in my own hard feelings toward myself, like most people do. It’s sort of selfish to keep an online journal like that, I am aware of it. But isn’t that what friends are for?

Well duh :stuck_out_tongue: If I’m going to talk about birds, I’m going to say that they can fly, not say that they can’t fly just because two species of birds can’t :stuck_out_tongue:

Then complain about PEOPLE, don’t complain about the practice of keeping an online journal, so you can be like, “uhhrrr the reason I don’t keep an online journal is because they suck,” because it’s not the journal that sucks, but most of the people who keep them (which can be simplified to, most people in general).

-Mazrim Taim

Except even so, four of my five points still stand, by which I will say that Online Journals do indeed suck :stuck_out_tongue:

You only think your points stand because you’re illiterate. :stuck_out_tongue:

oh, I use one by the way. But right now I’m only keeping it available to offline-life friends who also have one. Maybe I’ll add y’all over the summer or something. You can see the first entry at http://www.livejournal.com/users/johnmirra/

>a) more often than not shows how stupid/shallow people can be

even if that were true, which is itself debatable, would you rather be under the illusion that stupid/shallow people are brilliant, sound individuals?

>b) wastes space because no one cares about your personal life (except when you show it to your personal friends. Even then it’s a maybe.)

even if that were true, which is itself debatable, at the very least there must be some economic benefit from hosting journals, otherwise no organization(s) would form around them. So somebody gets to send their kids to Skidmore because of angsty 15+ year-olds :stuck_out_tongue:

>c) is most of the time nonsensical and refers to personal aspects that perhaps a dozen people would even know of

That’s not always the case. Some people are very vague, but that’s likely intentional. Since communicating how you feel isn’t always easy, even online. And some people can write clearly, and some even beautifully. And even certain nonsensical journal entries can be written well.

>d) serves no purpose. You want to vent, vent on notepad. Don’t spawn this crap and clutter the internet with it.

If you’re not interested in reading it, who cares where the person writes it? As long as it’s not causing harm or major inconvenience to you or anyone (like if they wrote in skywriting so frequently that it blotted out the sun :P), then why does that really matter?

>e) is hypocritical. If a journal is online, it’s not very damn well a place for your private thoughts, is it? It’s simply another public communication channel, except it’s one-way, and defeats the entire purpose of a public communication medium.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be private-only. And there are settings that can dictate how open it is. People can comment on it too, so it’s not one-way. Online journals are privately discussed public discussion hubs. But the fact of its disguise makes it easier for some people to use it.

<sarcastic-angst>No one cares about me anyways, so why bother posting the link to m<a href=“http://ww.livejournal.com/users/ryuujinzero”>i</a>ne?</sarcastic-angst>

Subtle.

It would have hid better under the “g”, see: Postin<a href=“http://www.rpgclassics.com/”>g</a> mine.

BTW, you missed a w in your www.

Mine. Most of it’s restricted to friends. It’s not for you.

Someone said “Mine is a real journal not a diary”

What in blazes is the DIFFERENCE between a journal and a diary? They seem to be the same to me, the only noticeable difference I have been able to find is that creatures of the male sex seem to prefer the term journal and creatures of the female sex seem to prefer the term diary.

(and creatures of militaristic tendency call it a log, and creatures of journalistic tendency call it a blog)

I dunno what y’all think, but I just use online journals as a place to write down stuff I don’t end up talking to other people about at the end of the day. Not for angst, or for telling my personal life to anyone who stumbles upon it. Sometimes it’s personal, sometimes it’s not. Most of the time it’s just random things that I wanna mention that I can’t really have a large convesation about, like “I bought a space invaders jacket” (Which I really did :P), or something like that.

So, I don’t know if I agree with some of the ways people USE their online journals, but they’re certainly not bad.

a) more often than not shows how stupid/shallow people can be

Isn’t that a superficial and shallow comment in itself? :stuck_out_tongue: You can’t make such a ridiculous generalization. Or, well you CAN, but it would be ridiculous, and overgeneralized. :stuck_out_tongue:

b) wastes space because no one cares about your personal life (except when you show it to your personal friends. Even then it’s a maybe.)

You’re assuming that everyone writes about their personal lives in an online journal. I certainly don’t. An online journal to me is more like a ‘web log’ where I just write down whatever I want. It COULD be personal, it could be random, it could be a joke I heard, if could be anything. The cool thing is, anyone can see it. So, whatever you put up there is something you share with any of your friends that read it, or just anyone that stumbles by it. It’s your fault if you decide to make it personal, and even then it’s not bad. You can make online journals private. Even exclusive to yourself; what if I don’t WANT to keep my journal on a piece of paper? :stuck_out_tongue:

c) is most of the time nonsensical and refers to personal aspects that perhaps a dozen people would even know of

Point. But still, most peopel just assume their friends read it, and their friends are probly the dozen people that understand. I know that on my LJ, my friends are more often than not, either good at writing so you can understand, or, they’re not and I know what they’re referring to, so in the end it doens’t really matter, does it? :stuck_out_tongue:

d) serves no purpose. You want to vent, vent on notepad. Don’t spawn this crap and clutter the internet with it.

You’re gonna speak for everyone when you say it serves no purpose? Do you KNOW for a FACT that it serves no purpose for ANYONE THAT USES THEM? That’s a kinda rude statement to make. :stuck_out_tongue:

e) is hypocritical. If a journal is online, it’s not very damn well a place for your private thoughts, is it? It’s simply another public communication channel, except it’s one-way, and defeats the entire purpose of a public communication medium.

Some people don’t use them for private thoughts. They just happen to be called online journals. Besides, a normal journal is just as hypocritical; if you write them down in a little book, then anyone that finds it (just like an ONLINE journal! :open_mouth: O:) can pick it up and read it. :stuck_out_tongue: If you want thoughts to be private, keep them in your head and not a journal. :stuck_out_tongue:

Irragualar updates and no comments yet!

http://www.livejournal.com/users/big_nutter/

Note that Several RPG members are on the my freinds list. Some relfect their colours of Spirtes or Drawings By faetan. List include TD, Spooons, and Faetan.

I do silly posts.

Big Nutter
(Rabites, heh-heh!)

Yeah I got one.

That’s not it though, this is: http://www.livejournal.com/users/gila_monster/

even if that were true, which is itself debatable, would you rather be under the illusion that stupid/shallow people are brilliant, sound individuals?

No?

even if that were true, which is itself debatable, at the very least there must be some economic benefit from hosting journals, otherwise no organization(s) would form around them. So somebody gets to send their kids to Skidmore because of angsty 15+ year-olds :stuck_out_tongue:

Yes, to get traffic. To advertise. To make a thriving internet site. There’s an economic benefit, yes, but there’s also economic benefits to spamming viagra ads to millions of users because a small percentage of them will actually visit. That doesn’t make the majority any happier :stuck_out_tongue:

That’s not always the case. Some people are very vague, but that’s likely intentional. Since communicating how you feel isn’t always easy, even online. And some people can write clearly, and some even beautifully. And even certain nonsensical journal entries can be written well.

Agreed. The keyword, however, is “some” :stuck_out_tongue:

If you’re not interested in reading it, who cares where the person writes it? As long as it’s not causing harm or major inconvenience to you or anyone (like if they wrote in skywriting so frequently that it blotted out the sun :P), then why does that really matter?

Oh, but it cause major harm and/or inconvenience to me. Online Journal entries tend to show up when I’m searching for something via search engines. More often now than it was a couple of years ago, when I got the damn results I wanted :stuck_out_tongue: That, and Online Journals killed my father and raped my mother.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be private-only. And there are settings that can dictate how open it is. People can comment on it too, so it’s not one-way. Online journals are privately discussed public discussion hubs. But the fact of its disguise makes it easier for some people to use it.

I guess it makes sense when you’re discussing stuff with your friends, but man, if some random stranger opened my private thoughts and then scribbled comments on it like “lol 2 bad” I’d go kick their ass :stuck_out_tongue:

Oh yeah and SG:

Isn’t that a superficial and shallow comment in itself? :stuck_out_tongue: You can’t make such a ridiculous generalization. Or, well you CAN, but it would be ridiculous, and overgeneralized. :stuck_out_tongue:

Yeah I didn’t want to expand on it because I don’t think you’d want to hear my life story about how every online journal entry I’ve come across was either nonsensical, stupidly pink with ~*'s or an online quiz for EVERY SINGLE ENTRY. I’ve yet to see a good one, so you guys are obviously in the minority :stuck_out_tongue:

You’re assuming that everyone writes about their personal lives in an online journal. I certainly don’t. An online journal to me is more like a ‘web log’ where I just write down whatever I want. It COULD be personal, it could be random, it could be a joke I heard, if could be anything. The cool thing is, anyone can see it. So, whatever you put up there is something you share with any of your friends that read it, or just anyone that stumbles by it. It’s your fault if you decide to make it personal, and even then it’s not bad. You can make online journals private. Even exclusive to yourself; what if I don’t WANT to keep my journal on a piece of paper? :stuck_out_tongue:

Well, yeah, that’s cool, because you’re sharing stuff with an intended group of people, whether it’s the public or your friends. It’s not that that I disapprove of, though :stuck_out_tongue:

You’re gonna speak for everyone when you say it serves no purpose? Do you KNOW for a FACT that it serves no purpose for ANYONE THAT USES THEM? That’s a kinda rude statement to make. :stuck_out_tongue:

Maybe it is, but I’ve yet to see online journals save stranded kitties from trees :stuck_out_tongue: If it is, then I’m sorry, 'cause maybe people do find venting in a journal where a person comes a long and go “omg sry dude 2 hear ur loss” a good thing, but then you’re just looking for attention. No different from those personal geocities sites full of animations and flash banners, I suppose :stuck_out_tongue:

Some people don’t use them for private thoughts. They just happen to be called online journals. Besides, a normal journal is just as hypocritical; if you write them down in a little book, then anyone that finds it (just like an ONLINE journal! :open_mouth: O:) can pick it up and read it. :stuck_out_tongue: If you want thoughts to be private, keep them in your head and not a journal. :stuck_out_tongue:

Oh no you don’t :stuck_out_tongue: If it’s gonna be called a journal, it damn well better be a journal :stuck_out_tongue: Besides, that little book won’t be stapled onto a big worldwide bulletin board along with thousands of others to read :stuck_out_tongue: The only person that even have a chance of seeing your journal are your friends and family and maybe the guy that delivers your pizza :stuck_out_tongue:

"Yeah I didn’t want to expand on it because I don’t think you’d want to hear my life story about how every online journal entry I’ve come across was either nonsensical, stupidly pink with ~*'s or an online quiz for EVERY SINGLE ENTRY. I’ve yet to see a good one, so you guys are obviously in the minority :stuck_out_tongue: "

Well, I’d like to hear your story. :smiley: I don’t see why it matters how much you elaborate on it or not, it’s still a really superficial, shallow thing to say. :stuck_out_tongue:

“Well, yeah, that’s cool, because you’re sharing stuff with an intended group of people, whether it’s the public or your friends. It’s not that that I disapprove of, though :P”

Well, we’re in the same boat on this one. I still don’t think it’s such a huge problem though. They obviously serve some sort of purpose for the people who use them, so let it happen. We’re all gonna get murdered someday anyways :stuck_out_tongue:

"Maybe it is, but I’ve yet to see online journals save stranded kitties from trees :stuck_out_tongue: If it is, then I’m sorry, 'cause maybe people do find venting in a journal where a person comes a long and go “omg sry dude 2 hear ur loss” a good thing, but then you’re just looking for attention. No different from those personal geocities sites full of animations and flash banners, I suppose :stuck_out_tongue: "

…So, your idea of serving a purpose is saving kitties from trees huh? :stuck_out_tongue: When did fine arts ever do that, or the government? The only people that do are firemen. :stuck_out_tongue: There’s a broad range of purposes to be served, and they don’t all have to be so damn heroic or anything. :stuck_out_tongue:

“Oh no you don’t :stuck_out_tongue: If it’s gonna be called a journal, it damn well better be a journal :stuck_out_tongue: Besides, that little book won’t be stapled onto a big worldwide bulletin board along with thousands of others to read :stuck_out_tongue: The only person that even have a chance of seeing your journal are your friends and family and maybe the guy that delivers your pizza :P”

…Friends, family, and the guy that delivers my pizza…so basically that’s still just about everyone who can access your Live Journal? :stuck_out_tongue: Also, if you ever looked into an Online Journal, you can make it private. You can even make it exclusive only to yourself. I never kept a journal, and for exactly the reasons I stated before. It’s ridiculous to have a private thought and write it somewhere where someone can find it. Sure, it’s LESS likely to be found than an online journal, but REALLY now, people are just as unlikely to go deliberately stumbling across your online journal as they are your offline journal. To this day I still have never come across an LJ in a search engine. :stuck_out_tongue:

Plus, I think you’re getting too hung up on the word journal. I have a LiveJournal, and I don’t use it to write how I feel about my personal feelings. It’s STILL called a Journal whether you like it or not. :stuck_out_tongue: It doesn’t mean you have to write private or personal thoughts in it. There are a lot of definitions for the word journal that do not necesarily entail privacy.

Why in Hell is anybody arguing about this? It’s stupid. People will like and use internet journals/diaries/whatfuckingever and people will hate them. I really don’t see the point of this debate.