Journaling Privately and Publicly

[annofowlshire]

In my early 20s, I got introduced to online journaling (aka LJ), and later on blogs. I used them extensively and nattered on about just about everything in my life. In my late 20s, I got introduced to 750Words, in which I nattered on privately and even more intimately.

Then, in my mid-30s, I went through some serious life upheavals and changes, and I found that even journaling "privately" on someone else's server felt uncomfortable and potentially invasive. I've moved through various versions of offline-but-still electronic journaling, and then moving into old fashioned pen and paper. I've even become proficient in a form of shorthand/code to further increase my privacy (but sadly means whoever inherits them will probably not be very interested in them :P)

Anyway! The thing is, when I reverted to private journaling, I left my online journals in neglect, and even now, I'm finding myself having trouble knowing what to write on them, because either I feel like I'm not being personal enough, or I'm revealing too much. Even behind locked posts.

So now that I've blabbed on about myself, I turn to ask you--what do you put on your online/public journals? How does it differ from what goes into your private journals? I find high value in journaling privately, but I miss being part of an online journaling community. Please give me advice on how to be an online journaler again!

Comments

[lunabee34]

My online journal has always been fandom oriented: fic, recs, reviews of media. As fandom has become a less intense part of my life, I've posted more about my personal life: my kids, travels, things happening in my life.

I try not to use my online journal to whine and vent too much; I don't want to be that person everyone scrolls past because she's constantly negative and always posting about the tragedy of her life.

I do not post about work or people I work with except in the most general sense; I know someone who was fired from our institution for ill-advised post on social media, so I am extremely scrupulous about that. I do sometimes post about those issues under heavy flock and frequently delete the posts after awhile.

My advice for being an online journaler would be maybe to start with the idea of reviewing stuff, maybe a book or a movie. Or a notebook you bought or your favorite pens to journal with. A lot of people post about food, recipes and cool restaurants they've visited. Or you could post about a project you're starting.

[annofowlshire]

Thanks for the overview and advice! I like the idea of posting about things that interest/engaged me. It seems so obvious when you say it XD

[lunabee34]

:)

I hope you get a bunch of ideas from this post.