Want to Peek between my Sheets? (livejournal.com)

Member Name: kittykat18

Product:	livejournal.com
Date:	22/10/02 (916 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, non profit making, innovative

Disadvantages: Hassle of joining

I kept a diary from the age of 10 up till I was 17. I used to write in it nearly every night, and used it to sort out the feelings and thoughts rushing through my mind. I always felt better after writing it and like to read back on them when time has passed to see how I had changed. I'm 20 now and not used to writing my feelings down, but am eager to do so because I enjoy it, and it is good for my writing skills.

I belong to an online community for young people and became curious when I heard people talking about their 'livejournal'. I wandered over to the site, at www.livejournal.com to have a look.

I like the simple design and it's easy to find out what it is all about. Livejournal is an online diary site, or 'journal' as the Americans like to call it. Part of me thinks this is strange, why would anyone want to make their most personal thoughts available to anyone who comes across them on the internet? I browse though some of the journals, which you can access through knowing the writers name or simply by clicking on 'FIND RANDOM USER'. It seems that people use their journals differently. Some genuinely use them as a personal diary to record their feelings and experiences, while some use it as a record or events. Others use their journal as a place to store links, jokes, or news stories which interest them.

Ok, by now I decided I want one of these things. This is where it gets a little confusing. There are two ways you can get a livejournal. Firstly, you can pay for one. It costs $25 per year or $5 for a month, can be paid for using paypal or by sending a cheque. Rather confusing for non US residents, well it was for me anyway. Damn this, I want a free journal. You can get free livejournals, but must be invited by an existing member who gives you a code. Members get a limited amount of codes, so won't just give them out to anybody. Luckily, I bribed an online friend with promises of my life of glamou
rous parties and orgies, and gullible man that he is, he gave me his code. Once he gave me the code, it was a simple process of entering the code and various details about myself such as name, age, location and choosing a livejournal name for myself.

I chose to change the appearance of my journal by changing the background colour and font colour to inject a bit of personality. You can also choose a little picture to represent yourself, so I found a Japanese style cartoon which looks a bit like me. I looked on Google images for mine.

Now I was ready to get writing. It felt a bit odd at first and I just posted a few lines. when I came back the next day I discovered I had various comments from online friends. Similar to comments on ciao opinions (but not so butt kissing), people can leave messages on your diary entries relating to what you wrote. And thus the fun begins. Live journal is fun and addictive because of the community aspect. People are nosy about what other people get up to, and how often do you legitimally get the chance to read someone's diary?

Also similar in a way to the ciao system is that you can add friends and others can add you. Then you generate a 'friends' page where you can read all of your friends latest journal entries in one place. It is intriguing to read peoples innermost thoughts, and you quickly feel as though you know people through this method of communication. I know people who have met up and become good friends and relationships which have developed from live journal. Of course caution must be practiced.

In the interests of privacy you can keep journal entries public or private. Private means they are only accessible to 'friends' of yours. If you have your own computer you can set it up so that the live journal site remembers you, so you don't have to enter your name and password every time you go back. You can also have email alerts for any comments left for you or replies
to comments you have made.

You can use basic HTML in your entries such as bold, italics and hyperlinks. You can also use images in your entries, such as photographs or those quiz results like 'which muppet are you?'.

Live journal has many other features, many of which are solely for paid account users. It's a bit of a bummer, but I can't complain too much as I am paying nothing. Paid account users can search the user directory, for example if they wanted to read the journal of someone who lives in Paris and likes cooking, they could do so. All users have the option of listing their interests. There are also live journal communities, which are basically journals with many members who can all leave entries in one place. Communities range from fanclubs of various bands to discussions about animal testing right through to support groups for expectant mothers.

There is a comprehensive help section with FAQ's covering all of the common issues that users have, and also a facility to submit your question if it is not covered.

I have had my journal for about a week now and am really enjoying it. I don't really need an excuse to spend more time online but this site is flexible, you can use it as you choose and it is a great way to make friends and sort your head out. I like to get inside peoples heads and have a good gossip and this is a great online way to do so.

My concerns about random people I know coming across my diary are as yet unconfirmed as I can make my entries private. I can delete entries if I change my mind about what I want posted on the internet. It's interesting to think what the legal implications of this site could be in criminal cases.

The Live Journal site was created by a computer science student in 1999 for himself and his friends to update their journals online. The site grew incredibly quickly, is run entirely by volunteers and contributions, and has over 700, 000
members from nearly every country in the world. The vast majority of users are from the USA and the UK but members from countries you would not expect, such as Somalia and Afghanistan, are increasing.

My opinion of this site is entirely positive. It is easy to use, there is no advertising and there is a healthy and intelligent member base. The only niggle I have is that it is a hassle to join up what with the codes, but the site explains this:

"LiveJournal relies strongly upon the community it creates, so we've decided to require that new accounts be sponsored by a present member of LiveJournal, in order to encourage healthy community growth"...

which I feel makes a lot of sense and hopefully reduces the amount of idiots joining. When I have been bored I have looked through random journals and found a depressingly large number of neon green ones written in text talk, but occasionally come across a gem, well written and hinting at the person who penned it. And those moments, when you understand that people who use live journal are recording their real, every day life and important things that happen to them are what makes it worth it.

You do feel like you know your livejournal 'friends', and wonder where they are when they don't write for a while, and feel bad for them when something hard happens in their life. Who would have thought that boring old computers could come to mean so much?

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