The purpose of LJ

[mousme]

Okay, 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?

Comments

[griffen.livejournal.com]

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.

Nope.

Originally it was one guy who published his weblog on his site, and liked it when his friends commented on it, so he created what eventually became LiveJournal. It has almost nothing to do with writers or writing, and everything to do with connecting to friends.

It's still very much serving its original purpose.

Re:

[mousme.livejournal.com]

I stand corrected. Or sit, as the case may be. ^_-

But I hold to my question. :)

[of-evangeline.livejournal.com]

It pays to be entertaining.

*prances*

[meallanmouse.livejournal.com]

In terms of what I want from other LJs, it's purely a way for me to keep in touch with friends, local and abroad, old and new really.

As for my own uses out of it? It's something like a diary I guess, though I tend not to do the deepest personal thoughts thing (heck, wouldn't even do it with a book diary anyhow!) :D

It's fun mostly. It's about interaction.

And I lurve to mess with the look of it and my icons, yes. :D

[miseri.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine posted in his livejournal the following excerpt from Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey", which I think seems rather appropriate here:

"I see what you think of me," said he gravely--"I shall make but a poor figure in your journal tomorrow."

"My journal!"

"Yes, I know exactly what you will say: Friday, went to the Lower Rooms; wore my sprigged muslin robe with blue trimmings--plain black shoes--appeared to much advantage; but was strangely harassed by a queer, half-witted man, who would make me dance with him, and distressed me by his nonsense."

"Indeed I shall say no such thing."

"Shall I tell you what you ought to say?"

"If you please."

"I danced with a very agreeable young man, introduced by Mr. King; had a great deal of conversation with him--seems a most extraordinary genius--hope I may know more of him. That, madam, is what I wish you to say."

"But, perhaps, I keep no journal."

"Perhaps you are not sitting in this room, and I am not sitting by you. These are points in which a doubt is equally possible. Not keep a journal! How are your absent cousins to understand the tenour of your life in Bath without one? How are the civilities and compliments of every day to be related as they ought to be, unless noted down every evening in a journal? How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and curl of your hair to be described in all their diversities, without having constant recourse to a journal? My dear madam, I am not so ignorant of young ladies' ways as you wish to believe me; it is this delightful habit of journaling which largely contributes to form the easy style of writing for which ladies are so generally celebrated. Everybody allows that the talent of writing agreeable letters is peculiarly female. Nature may have done something, but I am sure it must be essentially assisted by the practice of keeping a journal."

The Meaning of LiveJournals

[ajpursell.livejournal.com]

42?

venting. it's used for venting.

the use of an LJ...

[cymry.livejournal.com]

in my own case, i keep an LJ to allow my thoughts more range than they would normally have. my thoughts tend to be so scattered and generally disorganized that it's nice to figure out what i'm thinking once in a while -- which is only possible thru conversation or writing. unfortunately, there isn't always someone around willing to listen to me babble (though SG and Ford generally handle that part of things quite well) and sometimes i'm not even sure what i want to be writing until i sit and write. then again, i'm a writer and that's how i function best.

as for what i believe the purpose of LJ to be, it's both a way to keep in contact with absent (or just overly-busy friends) and a way to inspire one another to greater heights/thoughts than just the everyday. often, i'll read an LJ post and it'll set me to thinking about something that would normally not have occured to me. i suppose that makes it all about self-discovery and the better knowledge of others then.

[caersidi.livejournal.com]

Interesting post as I think about same on occasion. It is similar to my own approach to my LJ friends and what I look for.

I have a core group of LJ friends with whom I have role-played in various pbem games for last couple of years. We began as strangers with a love for Harry Potter and have become quite a close knit group. Indeed, getting LJs was a part of that process. So, I am not bothered what they write, because it is one more way of enhancing our relationships.

The other group is people I have met in various ways on-line including some reviewees. Again, they will have been added because I found something in their LJs, their writing or comments to others that intrigued me. So, yes my expectations and sense of obligation is different. Plus, if we unlink from each other, I consider it about 'no blame' - of two strangers who didn't click. If the same happenned to one of the first group, it would be upsetting.