2008 Woodie Awards
Quick Chat: Live Journals Are the Scourge of Our Generation
Bob Barrows
Issue date: 2/16/05 Section: Perspectives
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Listen folks we really need to chat about this Live Journal business and how they have been spreading. I received an instant message from a friend of mine at Harvard, which included a link that he told me I would be interested in. So, as a loyal friend I gave the link a click and sure enough I am brought to LiveJournal.com to my friend's journal. It was a collective outpouring of emotions, mindless thoughts, and puppy-love jargon. Together, it formed a trifecta from hell. You know what was worse was then that? I read it.... Why?...because I'm an idiot! I must have been living under a rock the last few years because since that dreaded episode I have found out that there are millions of these and many of my fellow Jaspers have them too. It is creepy, and it is really freaking me out.
Isn't the purpose of a journal or a diary that it is supposed to be secretive and private? What kind of person feels comfortable letting out all sorts of personal information for millions to see? The people that have these things are religious about them too. They are constantly updating them by the hour. Don't you think it is very presumptuous for one to think that everyone actually cares what you're thinking and doing everyday. The stuff that gets put on these things are ludicrous. No one cares how many beers were consumed last night or how many times Rule 15 was broken! It is very nice to share it with the rest of the High-Speed world but in the end the care-meter never even rises.
Also, why post self-absorbed music lyrics on journals and even in "away messages". Let's get something straight: No person will ever read some lyrics you type on a screen and say "Wow, that has really moved me! I'm a changed person!" Appreciate music, don't abuse it.
What bothers me above all though is that most of these journal-posting maniacs would never say any of this junk in a confrontational atmosphere. I find it interesting that when one has the smoke screen of the Internet in front of them they try to be a different person and by the word "be" I mean they try to act smarter, stronger, and more sensitive. The point here is that what most of these people type they would never actually say to someone face to face.
Isn't the purpose of a journal or a diary that it is supposed to be secretive and private? What kind of person feels comfortable letting out all sorts of personal information for millions to see? The people that have these things are religious about them too. They are constantly updating them by the hour. Don't you think it is very presumptuous for one to think that everyone actually cares what you're thinking and doing everyday. The stuff that gets put on these things are ludicrous. No one cares how many beers were consumed last night or how many times Rule 15 was broken! It is very nice to share it with the rest of the High-Speed world but in the end the care-meter never even rises.
Also, why post self-absorbed music lyrics on journals and even in "away messages". Let's get something straight: No person will ever read some lyrics you type on a screen and say "Wow, that has really moved me! I'm a changed person!" Appreciate music, don't abuse it.
What bothers me above all though is that most of these journal-posting maniacs would never say any of this junk in a confrontational atmosphere. I find it interesting that when one has the smoke screen of the Internet in front of them they try to be a different person and by the word "be" I mean they try to act smarter, stronger, and more sensitive. The point here is that what most of these people type they would never actually say to someone face to face.