Week 1: "I write in a diary everyday... but I tell all my guy friends its a journal"

     I have been writing in a journal since I was in the sixth grade, so I have about 15 notebooks that are filled and filled and filled with words and cut outs from magazines and things I printed from the internet. At first my writing was more like a diary where I wrote about boys and how much I hated my parents when they wouldn't let me hangout with my friends.  But now, keeping a journal is probably one of the only reasons I am still (somewhat) sane.  I write a lot to get my thoughts onto paper when I am ANGRY or SAD or CONFUSED.  I use my journal as a place to take notes on what I want to talk to my therapist about, or to brain dump everything I have to get done because if I don't write it down somewhere I MIGHT EXPLODE.  My journal is my second brain. It really does take some weight off of my shoulders to have everything on paper as well as in my head.  Not only that, but I can really hold myself accountable for things and talk myself through things that I can't do by talking out loud to myself.  (Remember what I said about writing keeping me sane?)
     I think today, everyone writes about themselves online.  On social media platforms all people ever do is talk about themselves.  And I don't think that is a bad thing at all.  I do not think someone could every reach a point of oversharing.  There is always going to be someone that needs to hear what you have to share with the world.  When you share an experience or a thought online you might reach someone that really really needed to hear what you had to say.  
     People are interested in reading other people's journals because sometimes it is nice to know that we are not the only ones feeling a certain way.  We want to know what other people are going through as a means of validating ourselves and our struggles.  If someone we really look up to writes about the excruciating pain of a heartbreak, and the feeling of never ending pain that comes along  with it BUT they are still making it through, it will make us feel better knowing that if they can get through this... then maybe we can too.
     I do not know a lot about most writers, but I do believe that we can learn from most of things that we read no matter the form they are written.  I think it depends on how you interpret what someone says.  Reading somebodies stream of consciousness writing can portray something way different than a piece of writing that is written super well, with the intention of being read.
     I think a diary writer should have no concern with anything whatsoever if their diary is for themselves and themselves only.  If you are writing for yourself and you do not care about the organization of your words than why should you force yourself?!  Unless you really want to of course.  I think writing online only changes this if you have the intention of sharing with and maintaining an audience.  It could be very hard to keep an audience interested if your writing is hard to follow, and you don't know how to spell.  Why should they listen to what you have to say, why are YOU someone worth their time if you cannot put in the time to make your words sound and look nice!?  I feel like "Screening Moments, Scrolling Lives: Diary Writing on the Web" hits this topic spot on.  When writing online you want to provide an "online relationship" with the people who read what you share and being messy and name dropping people might deter people from feeling they can trust you and whatever it is you have to say.