Week 1: Private vs. Online Writing

     I do not personally keep a diary or journal; however, I did keep a diary when I was younger. I have always loved writing, so it was fun for me to write about my day and/or experiences I had when I was younger. Over time, it became more of a chore than something fun to do, and eventually I stopped. Even though I stopped writing in a traditional diary, I enjoy writing about myself online. Living in a time period where we can connect with anyone online forces you to have a different point of view on things. For example, my dad doesn't have hardly any social media accounts because he doesn't want people to see what he is doing in his life. I, on the other hand, grew up with the rise of social media so I have almost every social media account you could think of. I think it is okay to share your dreams or aspirations on a social platform if you really want to, but you have to be aware of the consequences. Anybody can comment and make you second guess yourself, or people can decide to copy you. People definitely overshare on social media to the point where they have lost a sense of voice or purpose. I have seen people post such personal information, even going as far as publicly arguing about something very personal.
     People are interested in reading other people's journals because it can be fun and interesting. Reading about somebody else's life can take you out of the mindset of thinking about your own life and problems. It is a source of entertainment, and it can be even more fun because you know you are reading at least somewhat truthful events. I do believe that most diary writers write in a stream of consciousness mode. When you're writing about your day or about something that happened to you, you are focused on getting the whole story down- not about what you maybe shouldn't add for any number of reasons. However, this doesn't mean that only the writer can learn from his/her entries. Anybody can learn something from somebody else's writing, no matter how individualized that writing happens to be. If someone is writing purely for themselves, things such as organization, grammar, and name dropping do not matter whatsoever. This does change when the writing is opened up to an online audience. I personally would exclude names if I was writing online about people in my real life. Some people may not care if those who they are writing about see what is being said, so it really is a personal preference.