900 Million People?

Dear Blog,

Hmmm...not quite the same for me as when I wrote "Dear Diary" for the first time when I was seven. Soon my "diary" became a journal, where I could write anything. Writing for me has always been a way to view my own thoughts. Often writing lets me work through something without the pressure of instant decisions as in a conversation. I just read Nardi, Schiano and Gumbrecht's Blogging as a Social Activity or Would you let 900 Million People Read your Diary? I found the case studies true to what I know of my generation and maybe others too...we like to speak our minds in anonymity. My Space denotes more than networking, for my generation it is an attitude--I need MY SPACE. Blogging provides yet another way to distance oneself from communication, while in the thick of it. I think Nardi and company's findings about most people not wanting a lot of feedback on their blog entries is probably true. For me it is flattering to think that people read what I am writing, whether or not they like it.

Everyone needs ways to vent and express their opinions, blogs and other non-face-to-face communications usually provide ways to do that in a less emotional way. Whatever the topic, when I blog, I do try to keep in mind that other people are reading this. So, while I won't be moving my journal to an online forum any time soon, blogging does add another demension to my love of writing for reflection.