The purpose of LJ
Dec. 18th, 2002 01:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeOkay, this is a really random post, but I've been thinking about it more and more lately, especially in light of certain posts by people on my friends list, and also by my own addition of other people to said friends list.
What exactly is LJ for? It's obvious that it's first purpose has likely been lost. From what I understood, LJ originally was designed for writers who had no market for their stuff to be able to publish in a public forum.
Clearly this is *not* what most people use it for anymore.
So what is the goal of someone who has a LJ? Or, perhaps more accurately, what is it about other people's LJs that we find appealing so that we continue to look at them and read them on a regular basis?
In my case, the reason I write in my LJ is because I have a lot of difficulty expressing myself out loud, or verbally. I may go into the why of that in a later post when I have more time.
So I not only keep my friends posted on what's happening with me, it's also a way of communicating my feelings in a way that I'm unable to IRL. It's a sad fact, but true, and telling me to just come out and say what I want or need doesn't always work. Taking refuge in the written word is one way I have come to be more open with people, paradoxically.
Writing also helps me sort out my own thoughts on specific matters.
This is why I don't often comment on matters of philosophy or politics or even academic matters that I've studied and actually know about. I don't need to sort those matters out in my head, and I very rarely discuss them outside of an academic setting (unless it's with my father).
The reverse side of the medal, of course, is what I look for in other LJs. These fall into two categories:
1- My RL friends who happen to have LJs. From them I only want regular updates. I don't really care what they write because I know them and I can read the tone in their posts a lot of the time, not to mention that it just reassures me to know they're still alive and (reasonably) well.
2- People I've discovered online. With them I'm more demanding. I feel no real obligation to them, as they're not much more than a screen name until I get to know them better. So in these cases I look for something more than several quizzes and the occasional grocery list. It quite frankly doesn't interest me. I look for someone who will inspire me, or perhaps just make me think about myself differently, or make me laugh, or make me see things in an entirely new light.
In short, I demand to be entertained and informed. ^_-
Thoughts?
What exactly is LJ for? It's obvious that it's first purpose has likely been lost. From what I understood, LJ originally was designed for writers who had no market for their stuff to be able to publish in a public forum.
Clearly this is *not* what most people use it for anymore.
So what is the goal of someone who has a LJ? Or, perhaps more accurately, what is it about other people's LJs that we find appealing so that we continue to look at them and read them on a regular basis?
In my case, the reason I write in my LJ is because I have a lot of difficulty expressing myself out loud, or verbally. I may go into the why of that in a later post when I have more time.
So I not only keep my friends posted on what's happening with me, it's also a way of communicating my feelings in a way that I'm unable to IRL. It's a sad fact, but true, and telling me to just come out and say what I want or need doesn't always work. Taking refuge in the written word is one way I have come to be more open with people, paradoxically.
Writing also helps me sort out my own thoughts on specific matters.
This is why I don't often comment on matters of philosophy or politics or even academic matters that I've studied and actually know about. I don't need to sort those matters out in my head, and I very rarely discuss them outside of an academic setting (unless it's with my father).
The reverse side of the medal, of course, is what I look for in other LJs. These fall into two categories:
1- My RL friends who happen to have LJs. From them I only want regular updates. I don't really care what they write because I know them and I can read the tone in their posts a lot of the time, not to mention that it just reassures me to know they're still alive and (reasonably) well.
2- People I've discovered online. With them I'm more demanding. I feel no real obligation to them, as they're not much more than a screen name until I get to know them better. So in these cases I look for something more than several quizzes and the occasional grocery list. It quite frankly doesn't interest me. I look for someone who will inspire me, or perhaps just make me think about myself differently, or make me laugh, or make me see things in an entirely new light.
In short, I demand to be entertained and informed. ^_-
Thoughts?
