Private life - No One wants one anymore.

Blogs – where do I begin? As this is my last, I tried to grapple with the understanding of what it means to me. I would definitely say I wouldn’t use a blog as my personal diary; that would just be weird and indeed very uninteresting for the rest of those who read it. Wouldn’t it? Unfortunately as I see it teenage girls are doing it, bringing their personal lives into the public sphere, thus literally intertwining public and private circles. To me this doesn’t seem right. Bell’s second understanding of weblogs is more up my alley. He defines them as ‘places to gather and share information and internet links’. (Bell, 2007, p.96) Although my thoughts have been put into my blog this semester, I haven’t personally gone down the road of making it a diary about my personal life. I instead believe I have gathered information based on readings and then put my thoughts based on these readings in my posts. To me it seems a worry that adolescent girls are using blogs to publicise their private nature, in which Bell states that this is a re-occurring theme, using a blog like a diary. I am only 21 but when I had a diary it was a physical book, hidden away. If girls in the 21^st century cannot take time away from the internet and delve into their own thoughts without the need for others to see it, comment on it, then how are they ever going to understand themselves?

References:

Bell, B 2007, ‘Private writing in public spaces: girls’ blogs and shifting boundaries’, Growing up online: young people and digital technologies 2007, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, N.Y.