My LiveJournal
Several days back Debbie asked some interesting questions about LiveJournals and I've been too busy to give good thought to answer them. Until today.
How long have you had one?
One year at the end of October.
Why do you have one? Personal expression?
Yes, personal expression, first and foremost. For as long as I can remember I've needed some kind of personal outlet to write about my life and things that are on my mind. Until LJ that outlet was usually private writing or one-on-one e-mail, but I don't do that as much anymore and LJ has worked well to fill that need, too.
Connection with friends?
This has proved to be the biggest bonus of having a LJ. Even on days when I have nothing to say myself it gives me a great outlet to follow the lives of friends all over the world, even introducing me to friends with common interests whom I have never met. It's great to get support from those friends or being able to support them through life changes, challenges, events and artistic endeavors. LJ can be extraordinarily fast in getting information to a large group of people. Eg.- Used to be folks who couldn't get to a convention had to wait until -after- the con to get reports of what happened. Now, it's very common to get such LJ reports live during the con itself :).
Do you write mainly for yourself or mainly other people?
I write for myself. I find it impossible to write for other people, because it's so unpredictable what they will connect to and what they won't. Some days a major life revelation will inspire no response, other days the most trivial of observations will cause a torrent of discussion :). And often your posts have an impact even though people don't respond. Weeks later you may discover in conversation or e-mail that something you wrote did remain with someone who read it. So, in the long run it's better to write for yourself and trust that your words fit enough into the human condition that other people enjoy what you're writing, too.
Do you assume friends will read it?
Heh, no :). In fact it still surprises me when people -do- read my journal and surprises me even more when comment discussions spring up around my thoughts. I know there are folks that read my journal pretty consistently because they will comment on it outside of a LJ setting, but I would never expect anyone to read my journal nor would I be upset if they didn't.
Do you regularly read other people's Livejournals?
I go through my friends' list a handful of times a day. Usually anytime I check my e-mail I'm likely to also check my LJ. Actually, being that I have LJ access in my classroom and not e-mail access, I probably check LJ more often than e-mail during the school week :). I don't always have time to read everybody's LJ each day, but I read quite a few and at least skim them all.
How much time do you spend on Livejournal?
Too much :). It depends on whether or not I feel inspired to write on any given day. Altogether, if I'm writing an entry of my own, reading other entries and commenting, I may be on an hour on an average day.
Exercise log- Six miles yesterday and 2.5 miles today taking me to 454.5 miles. I'm 3.5 miles outside of Rivendell and I will get there tomorrow in time to open my exchange gift with my fellow walkers on September 22. The anticipation builds! Will Allison reach Rivendell? What is in the mysterious September 22 package?
How long have you had one?
One year at the end of October.
Why do you have one? Personal expression?
Yes, personal expression, first and foremost. For as long as I can remember I've needed some kind of personal outlet to write about my life and things that are on my mind. Until LJ that outlet was usually private writing or one-on-one e-mail, but I don't do that as much anymore and LJ has worked well to fill that need, too.
Connection with friends?
This has proved to be the biggest bonus of having a LJ. Even on days when I have nothing to say myself it gives me a great outlet to follow the lives of friends all over the world, even introducing me to friends with common interests whom I have never met. It's great to get support from those friends or being able to support them through life changes, challenges, events and artistic endeavors. LJ can be extraordinarily fast in getting information to a large group of people. Eg.- Used to be folks who couldn't get to a convention had to wait until -after- the con to get reports of what happened. Now, it's very common to get such LJ reports live during the con itself :).
Do you write mainly for yourself or mainly other people?
I write for myself. I find it impossible to write for other people, because it's so unpredictable what they will connect to and what they won't. Some days a major life revelation will inspire no response, other days the most trivial of observations will cause a torrent of discussion :). And often your posts have an impact even though people don't respond. Weeks later you may discover in conversation or e-mail that something you wrote did remain with someone who read it. So, in the long run it's better to write for yourself and trust that your words fit enough into the human condition that other people enjoy what you're writing, too.
Do you assume friends will read it?
Heh, no :). In fact it still surprises me when people -do- read my journal and surprises me even more when comment discussions spring up around my thoughts. I know there are folks that read my journal pretty consistently because they will comment on it outside of a LJ setting, but I would never expect anyone to read my journal nor would I be upset if they didn't.
Do you regularly read other people's Livejournals?
I go through my friends' list a handful of times a day. Usually anytime I check my e-mail I'm likely to also check my LJ. Actually, being that I have LJ access in my classroom and not e-mail access, I probably check LJ more often than e-mail during the school week :). I don't always have time to read everybody's LJ each day, but I read quite a few and at least skim them all.
How much time do you spend on Livejournal?
Too much :). It depends on whether or not I feel inspired to write on any given day. Altogether, if I'm writing an entry of my own, reading other entries and commenting, I may be on an hour on an average day.
Exercise log- Six miles yesterday and 2.5 miles today taking me to 454.5 miles. I'm 3.5 miles outside of Rivendell and I will get there tomorrow in time to open my exchange gift with my fellow walkers on September 22. The anticipation builds! Will Allison reach Rivendell? What is in the mysterious September 22 package?