What is LJ, anyway?

[deborahjross]

It strikes me that the function-as-community is in some ways incompatible with the function-as-journal. For me, the journal function is a semi-private place to track writing progress, interesting events, general light comments. Even with the "friends" filter (which I haven't figured out how to do, but I'm sure my 19 yo can show me), I'm very aware this is public. There is much of my life that never goes here. Privacy, confidentiality, and sheer prudence.

However, it's a useful way to keep in touch with what friends and family are up to. If they, too, post daily chat.

Then there's community, which is give-and-take, conversation, debate/n/discussion, the thousand daily threads that weave our lives together, and also the sometimes-illusion that we actually know one another. We do and we don't, and sometimes we do in a deeper way than face-to-face.

Off to practice Mozart... Minuet K. 6. I think he was about 4 when he wrote it.

Comments

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I think I'm just too paranoid to put anything I really want kept private online anywhere. I know this isn't reasonable, but I feel safer with paper journals. Part of this is that I feel so safe with my family and I don't know who's out there in internet-land. Who knows, I may not feel this way forever. I certainly go through phases of talking more and talking less, and as I go on, the urgent "need" to divulge things lightens, and also I have a surer sense of who is an appropriate person to share with.