I was listening to NPR's "On Point" this morning, and they raised the subject of on-line blogging/diaries/self-exposure.

They touched on many aspects of "journaling" and public writing, the history of the shift towards exposure we now see (they claimed) due to the web, and the effects it must have on the younger people who were essentially born "into" this mode of thinking.

Interesting.

Some of it I've given a lot thought over the years. Keeping a diary since age eleven sort of "forced" me, since it's WORK and I'd occasionally ask "WHY do it at all?". Plus, I taught a small course about keeping a journal, so I had to further organize my thoughts. However, keeping a private journal has nothing to do with any immediate needs of communication (except with the Self). At best, if you are young and excessively romantic about your place in the Universe, you might see your writings as valuable to your adoring fans waiting out there in History. If you think that way, it's not just optimistic, embarrassing, and unlikely, but it trumps the value of a real journal - which is documenting the REAL Truth, as YOU saw it, at THAT Moment, for YOU. That's all. Wanting more is a waste of YOUR time... and you don't have it to waste.

So, going on the assumption that web blogging/journaling is an effort to communicate something with others, what does the effort imply?

We should divide the efforts into two categories: the Closed Circles, and Open Circles. Closed Circles are pretty easy to understand. They're composed of a small group of people who find similar value in sharing within certain, similar areas of thought. It's friends going out for coffee, minus the bodies. With the large groups brought on by Open Circles, how does that change?

Some of the talk radio people asserted that ANY communicating was basically an effort to problem solve. I can't find any holes in that idea. I include "venting" as Problem Solving, so it's definitely THE category, as far as I'm concerned.

From THAT point of view, Open Circles probably function very well, with plenty of visits and feedback. However, by default, the O.C. also leaves its doors open to jerks, crazy people, and criminals. Heck, I get constant "feedback" due to my web site, and I'm not even asking for it! A word search may snag a term on my site for the wrong reason, and I'll be emailed repeatedly about a subject about which I have no "exchange" interest or further information.

So, other than Problem Solving, what else does an Open Circle offer?

The Talk Radio People also claimed it was a misguided effort to relieve loneliness. Well, I'm sure that's true at times, but we're in no position to say who opens themselves on the web as Los Lonely Peeps - unless they're members of www.Iam_SO_lonely.com. The T.R.P. didn't mention it, but there's also the "I'm just BORED!" angle.

Moving on... and this is where they got interesting... one of the talkers suggested that there is a cultural shift occurring with younger people unknowingly changing the concept "I think, therefore I am" to "I type, therefore I am". I.e., the web's becoming the evidence and validation for one's existence. It is EXTERNALLY validating. (MY words here.)

(An aside: I suspect with THIS package of ideas, comes the belief the more people who read you = the more you are validated. Whoa.)

The argument could be made that ANY journal-ish effort is the same thing, but it would be wrong. A personal journal is NOT placed on the living room coffee table, open, and intended for anyone else's reading. To violate that private format is a serious offense. Journals are internal, and used privately for personal history, fantasy, and growth. That's that.

There's no such concept on the web. You may as well wish for all the public roads to empty and become your private routes to your choice of destinations. Wrong (a)venue. Sweeeet idea, I must say, but wrong.

I also spent a lot of time thinking about these issues because of my visual art, which I eventually saw as personally driven but generalized and symbolically conceived. I saw no place in my art for a journal-istic attitude.

So, what's the point? What's the POINT of open blogs and other similar venues? What is the role of the individual here? Does it have ANYTHING to do with true journaling, or is it merely a huge system of tin cans on strings, and we're reporting on what we spy from our can?

Something to think about...

"Come in. Come IN?"