What makes you come back to read more? What drives you away forever? What do you think is the best thing about online journals, and what is the worst thing?

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

Answers

This is so horrible for me to admit, but lately I have come to the conclusion that I am a complete train-wreck watcher.

This is just not in journals. It's in everything. The more and more I stay home, the more often I find myself turning on the television. I find myself on shows like Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones. I'll be watching, mouth agape, telling myself: "Just turn it OFF, for Pete's sake!" Then this voice speaks up: "But who IS the father of her baby?!? I must know!!"

In online journals, as much as it shames me to admit, I have been addicted to the "Meta" of it all. A journal used to be able to completely fascinate me if the author is talking about another journaler.

Granted, with all the mud that's been slung around lately, even *I* have grown weary of all the conflict.

I love a good trainwreck as much as the next person, but for the most part, I just want people to get along.

Other things I like in a journal? Humour is a big one. And people that have dramatic things going on in their life. I'm SO thrilled for Atara of "She's Actual Size" since she announced that Dave popped the question!! Her entries on the long-distance relationship are one of things that have kept me coming back.

Ditto with folks like Carrie of "Earthmovers and Sandcastles" and Amy of "Who I Am". I'm just waiting for the day that they post that entry that screams: "I'M PREGNANT!!"

Basically, cliffhanger stuff will keep me coming back. Anyone that is in the midst of trying to do something or resolve a situation. I like to check back on the "progress" of said situation.

Other than that? People that I know, of course. I'm all nosy and up in their business and stuff. (=

That's all I can think of for now.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

I should probably stick to aspects that I like.

I like for the writer's life to be populated. It seems as if so many journalers have few or no friends, and that makes a journal seem lonely, like a novel with only one character. So much of a person's character is revealed by her interactions with her friends.

I like it when people talk about their jobs, but I understand that not everyone is at liberty to do so.

I like for the writer to have a varied life: hobbies such as ceramics, winemaking, ice skating, whatever -- if it's something that I enjoy as well, the shared experience creates a kinship, and if it's something I've never done, it gives me an idea of whether I might like to try it, and is interesting in the same way reading about a place you've never been is interesting. (For that matter, I like local flavor, whether it's Canadian spellings from Canadians or visits to the Strand by New Yorkers.) It depresses me when every day has a certain sameness, as if the writer were waiting for her life to start.

I like for the writer's passions to be roughly equally positive and negative. Many journalers seem to define themselves only by what they despise; I've gotten disenchanted recently with a journal that used to be a favorite, but is now a daily diatribe against idiotic co-workers, the fat, the ugly, the retarded, and bad drivers. I don't like dealing with angry people in person, either. I realize that anger is a part of life, but if you spend the majority of your time being upset, it becomes contagious for me: I get upset reading you, because I care about your emotional health. (I don't really dig the opposite either, where everything is hunky-dory and life's a breeze. I get bored.)

Shelley of shelleyness.com is a great example of balanced passion: whil she spends a lot of time aiming her well-honed shotgun of vitriol at the deserving, she also makes what she loves the centerpiece of her entries: her guinea pig, her boyfriend, her beloved grandmother, photographs of Ireland, the portrait-hat she wore last night...

I like it when the writer has a photograph of herself available. I like to see who's talking to me.

I like it when an entry is focussed. I would much rather read a detailed 1000-word description of a single event in a person's day than have the writer blow her wad trying to cover everything she did. (Of course, I am terrible at this myself.)

I like it when stories are told in non-chronological order, revealed creatively instead of the "I did... and then... and then... and then..." pattern. For example, opening an entry about a millennium party by describing waking up on January first with a splitting headache and a crepe-backed formal still on, then gradually recalling the events of the night before.

I like it when everything's spelled right. I take liberties with sentence structure myself, and I agree that writing in one's natural "voice" is the best way to go, but every editing program has a spell checker [and I am much more forgiving of homonym errors, which a spell-checker won't catch]. Very poor syntax usually indicates to me that the writer didn't bother with a read-through before putting their work on the web. If they don't want to read it, why should I? If you didn't care enough about your entry to spend a few seconds spell-checking it, why should I spend several minutes reading it? (This may bother me as a former copy editor than anything. If I a comma in the wrong place, I feel as if I have to fix it somehow or there'll be hell to pay. As a former retail clerk I also compulsively re-fold stacks of sweaters in department stores, though.)

I like it when I have to read a little into an entry, because I feel more involved. Sara Astruc recently wrote a brief story which described nothing more than visiting an upstairs ladies' room and leaving her lip print on the mirror; the reader is left to examine the minute bits of the story to discover what Sara may have been thinking and feeling as she did these things. That made me happy.

I too like self-deprecation and the admission of fault when it's deserved. Sometimes people do or say stupid things, and if you think you don't, or won't admit to it, then you have an ego problem or are much too attached to arcane notions of dignity [respectively]. It's okay to be human, really. If someone writes all the time about how rude her boyfriend is to her but never once says "I had PMS" or "I'd had a bad day at work and I suppose I snapped and chose the wrong target for my rage", then at some level she's not being honest, either with herself or with us.

I like reviews of movies or books or restaurants that strike at the how and why of the journaller's opinion rather than simply "See it while it's still in theaters!" or [one of my LEAST FAVORITE PHRASES OF ALL TIME] "Run, don't walk, to the [whatever]..."

I like original turns of phrase used in place of cliches. I'd much rather read "I was busier than a Vegas hooker at a dentist's convention" than "I was busy as a bee." "I was busy as a one-armed paperhanger" is kind of in the middle ground.

I like it when future events are alluded to. It gives me a reason to go back.

Conversely, I like it when the journaller mines her past for material. I forget which Transcendentalist it was who said "Poetry is powerful emotion recollected in tranquillity," but it's terribly true. All of us can write far more cogently and honestly about the events of years past because we are removed from them -- unlike things that happened an hour ago, which have no advantage of perspective. Also, if nothing happened to the journaller on a particular day, I'd rather read an in-depth account of the time she tried out for cheerleader in the seventh grade than a "breakfast, work, home, boyfriend, TV, bed" en

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

What Beth said, plus the trainwrecks.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

Oops, Kim reminded me of something I forgot -- a sense of place. I like to know the setting. I just went back and added that in to the essay.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

all of what you said beth, plus i like to read diverse journals, one that have something different. same as you said i guess. not all of your friends think the same way or have the identical interests. i read beth, i read nova notes, i read dirt road ramblin, i have been reading bonnie rabble who has just gone from "rant or rejoice" to i think is "the chattering," i read piper dane, i read "just stopping by" by the irish lady whose name i can't possibly spell with out looking it up, the english man poet type, erm who has a delicious turn of phrase, mike leung (of the how not to fly poem which entrances me, scherzi, and most anything that has a forum of subjects i am interested in and care to comment on. more than 'nuff said. doug some of the journals i read are from high school students, college students, young marrieds, young not marrieds, and old poops like me. they all have interesting points and different things to say. in a way, with me, it is like it used to be before i retired ten years ago all different people, a good part of them were terribly interesting the rest i just smiled and said hello in passing. so the feeling of involvement has something to do with it. i have lived through all of the age groups (the next one is senility - maybe i am already there) and the inability to communicate. i find that i can relate to almost any age group, 'cause i were there. humor, oh yes, a must, not a barrage of jokes but a humorous out look and the ability to laugh at oneself. all you said beth - - - -you do it better than i can.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

I like aspects of what was previously mentioned, especially regarding getting to know a sense of a person and what makes them tick (or not tick as the case may be). I've read online journals for years and kept mostly in the background and voyeuristic. I've written a journal since being a teen. It has helped me get through lots of *stuff* and I like to see *stuff* in others -- be it good or bad. Living in solutions or trying to find solutions to a person's problem or issue keeps me coming back. I hate to see people beating their heads on the same wall over and over again. A sense of humor is also important. Good design and making it legible is always a plus.

Check out The Road Trip ----> The Road Trip

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

Sorry, I got the html wrong. Let's try again

The Road Trip

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

I agree with almost everything Beth said -- except the bit about dialogue. I hate dialogue in a journal entry. I skip right over it, reading maybe every third line so as to follow the drift, but I'm really looking forward to the conversation's end when I do. A little bit is okay if you're hitting the high points or trying to show the flavor of something, but long stretches of screenplay-ish conversation a la Pamie? Ugh, no thanks. Buh-bye.

Just my opinion, but it's mine so it's right.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

I agree with Chuck. Well, sort of. I do like dialogue but I usually end up skipping over most dialogue in journals. It just doesn't say enough about anything. Dialogue for dialogue's sake is very tedious to read.

What I want to see in a journal is struggle. I want to see somebody struggling with something. That is the essence of storytelling, the struggle. Without struggle, there is no story.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

I like to meet a person. I mean seriously, that's what I'm looking for in a journal. I don't care what kind of job they have, what kind of people are in their life, whether they write an entry in prose, poetry, or simply stringing together song lyrics to invoke a mood, as long as I feel like I've met a person, I'm happy. I'm a people-watcher in real life, good lord, what's better than people-watching from the INSIDE!?

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

From the inside??? Ewww, you're a tapeworm!

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

Hmm. Definitely different tastes. I tend to skim journal entries to get to the dialogue. And summarized conversations drive me mad.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

One other thing. Use standard capitialization, sentance, and paragraph structure. It is not clever to write in all lower case. It shows disrepect for the reader.

It is not clever to write one huge paragraph.

It is not clever to put green type on a a purple background. Even "Wired" has almost given this up.

It is even less clever to
write
one
word
on
a
line
because
thats
not
how
people
read.

Go easy on the poems and songs also please.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

What I like in online journals:

* storytelling, be it humor, pathos, present happenings, past remembrance

* something indefinable about the writer's style -- but it has something to do with being vaguely unaware of your audience unless speaking directly TO the audience and also vaguely un-self-aware.

* I like stream of consciousness entries where the writer starts out writing about something that happened in their day and then roams all the way through past and present to the moments that that event took them to

* I like a little bit of mystique and mystery as well -- I don't necessarily want to know every gory little detail, a sense of perspective is more important to me

* a definite "voice" a sense of the person behind the words, if not a full portrait. Any journal is only ever scratching the surface, a dim mirror "looking through the glass darkly" at the person behind the journal, but a sense that there is a real flesh and blood person there is essential. (oddly enough -- I felt this way about OpheliaZ, aka Kat aka Ryan -- a testament perhaps to the ability to create a full flesh and blood character in one's mind and write through the lens of the character)

And finally, I know folks are going to hate me for this, but a good design is PARAMOUNT for me.

Designs that I don't like _will_ turn me off of a journal.

Especially ones with dark backgrounds that aren't well-done. Part of the experience for me with online journals, is the space that the creator brings me to visually, both in words and in pictures.

I know this is a pretty serious bias -- but I have in the past stopped reading journals, almost sub-consciously because I no longer felt "welcome" due to a re-design.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

I agree with you about the songs and poems, Jim, although I can think of one journaler who uses lyrics well -- Sara of Perfect Way. Her lyrics add something to her entries and don't intrude.

Mostly, I detest song lyrics and poems.

Oh, wait. Sometimes when Mar uses them they make me laugh. See? Exceptions to everything.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2000

I'm surprised, but only a little, that no one brought up a writer's integrity. In other words, that he or she says what he or she thinks rather than just what he or she thinks will be well received. I like a writer who is not a hypocrite, someone I can believe in, a person who doesn't change their mind and their stance every time the wind blows. There are far too many of these kinds of writers in the journal world.

Like, for instance, I wouldn't like a writer who one Diarist Awards quarter gives detailed picks of every award category without any regard to how that will influnce the voting public, then turns around three months later and claims she has no desire to sway the voting for said awards. She must think we're dumb and we don't remember.

I'm also surprised, quite a lot actually, that a screenplay writer would find so much fault with dialogue.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

Oh, I see, Jim, in your universe, people must behave the same way from the time they're born until they die. No one is permitted to think, "Hmm, maybe that wasn't the best idea. I won't do that this quarter."

But yes, you caught me; I just think you're all stupid so I tell you what to think. Damn, I thought I was going to get away with it.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

popopo - whoever you are, why should mike leung shut up ? at first shot you can see it's from him and you don't have to look................. and if that's all you have to say - - - - - - - - - you said it.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

i agree with beth's last posting - - - this seems to be causing somewhat of an uproar, and sowing seeds of unrest amongst us natives............... when i have something to say like has been said recently i do take it to e-mail. and a response by popopo (whoever) who asked mike leung to shut the f- - k up was vulgar and definitely should have been sent e-mail direct.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

hypocrite n. a person given to professing beliefs or virtues one does not posses.

Oh, Jim, if you want to get into hypocrisy, you need to address all of these questions I brought up here first.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

I guess I come to every journal assuming a writer's integrity, Jim. Unless I'm let down, I stay.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

I like journals who tell me a little story every day. The very best example of this type of journal is Atara's. I think her entries are the ones I look forward to every day more than any other journal out there. One day, she'll tell us about how she got the bus stuck in the snow...with every detail about tire tread, icy snow, old ladies cackling on the bus... this is good stuff, in my opinion. And that will be all. You know that wasn't the only thing that happened that day, but you leave feeling satisfied, as well. That is what I want, to be satisfied by an entry.

I agree with using your talking voice... I think I do that most of the time. Sometimes I like to change the pitch up a bit and do something a little different, and I think is neat when other journallers do this, too (for example, instead of an entry show us an e-mail you got from someone, or do a photo entry, or OCCASIONALLY answer a survey for an entry, etc.) I think Molly is a good example of someone who's journal is her voice, no question about it. I even had the opportunity to talk to her on the telephone a couple times, and talking to her was just like reading her journal. It was interesting.

I don't read Mar's lyrics nor anyone else's, I don't think they ever add anything. EXCEPT one time, Mar admitted that she doesn't associate the lyrics with the entry. So she used "We hate it when our friends become sucessful, especially when they're Northern..." by the Smiths, and then she wrote an entry about the killing of the Northern Pike.

I also like when an author can use webcam or other photos to illustrate, though it's not necessary (and now that my cat ATE my webcam this morning, I will no longer be a photo person, so I guess I can't talk. ARRRGHGHGHG)

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

Oops, there was supposed to be another sentence after that Northern Pike thing. I was going to say it's funny how subconsciously her lyrics fit her entry, and I always remember that. But otherwise, lyrics don't enhance anyone's journal, in my opinion.

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

I don't know if I particularly have a rationale for liking what I like. Such journals as I read tend to have different aspects that appeal to me, so I don't know if I could really draw up a list of what I do or don't like about journals. I do, however, have a couple of general principles. One, trainwrecks generally don't appeal to me unless they're REALLY spectacular. Two, a bit of humour and self-awareness goes a long way, as it tends to do in life.

Tonight We Sleep In Separate Ditchesless a trainwreck than someone slipping on a banana peel

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

And I seem to have missed this thing by popopo that Doug referred to. What happened there? (And thanks for filling in the survey, Doug)

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2000

i read xeney's journal and one of a girl named alex at flinch.org/alex. i like both writers because i feel like i can relate to them, and even though it's their life, it's kind of like a story rather than a whole bunch of mundane details. and they're easy to follow

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

dave van 01 - - - - - the way i always heard it, it takes two to tango. i have had my say and hope you have had yours. apologies come from a sincere heart rather than what you are putting out dave...............doug

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

Well, pretty much a 'me too' vis a vis Beth and journals; the differences probably aren't worth detailing.

I'm in the starting stages of making an online journal, but design woes are impeding me. What do y'all like to see in an online journal's design, aside from general readability (no yellow text on a white background) and obvious annoyances (blink tags, for chrissakes)?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

Scott -- IMHO, good navigation is very important:

Check out Gary's article on navigation systems from the premiere issue of Metajournals for some thoughts on navigability: http://www.metajournals.com/archive/9807/9807/resources/gary/navigate. html

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

Er. I meant Sean. Really, I did. It's just .. that whole morning thing I'm not good at. Yeah. That.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

A life that's not like mine.

Favorite journals include Lynda of (Parenthesis) or Mary of EASY WRITER, or Kymm of well, Kymm. Catherine of NAKED EYE and Tesserae of the former UNDER THE PINK are also good, because again, their lives are NOT like mine, and are fascinating in their own right.. I tend to zone out the closer your life is to mine.

Claims of not being a journal when, leave us face it, you manifestly ARE one are turn-offs but not necessarily fatal ones. Snottiness just for the sake of being snotty. Failure to move one is another...an inability to make one feel and empathize with one. The biggest turn-off is a total lack of humor, especially about oneself. If they don't recognize gentle irony, then they aren't worth bothering with.

Al of NOVA NOTES.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

I want a journal to make me laugh. Even though you have forsaken your poor kitty cats and I miss reading about them, I very much enjoy stories about Doc. I'm no judge of journals as I only read yours and my daughters because of lack of time (read them at work...shhhh), but I'm making a list for future use when I am retired and have my own computer at home.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

I dont know how much I can add to your excellent essay, Beth  it seems like we have similar feelings about journals. Its interesting that I dont read the ones you linked to as examples of good writing, but Ill be checking them out.

I like humor, first of all, of the kind that is most dear to my heart: commenting humorously on the mundane events of life. Thats one reason I like your journal, Beth. Its what I like about Bobofett!, Shellyness, Rob , Erm , and John ....and others too numerous to mention.

I like to read about peoples hobbies and passions. Even if a subject doesnt interest me, reading a well written discussion by somebody who is fascinated with it makes me interested too. I like (a little) talk about child rearing. I like the Brit journals with their glimpses into different customs. I want a sense of where they live, what its like to be there, what they think about it.

I like to read some introspection, memories, that kind of thing, but I get bored if thats all the journal is about. I agree with Kim that I want to hear about peoples jobs and friends and activities  if they dont ever mention any friends, it seems too lonely. I am always curious how people support themselves and for most of us, jobs are a big part of our lives. There are some where the person rarely mentions their work, and I assumed they must be living on a trust fund or something. It was weird when they suddenly talked about so and so at the office or whatever. (I know some people arent free to talk about work but there are ways of doing so.) I want to know the other people in the journallers life and what they think of the journaller, as well as what the journaller thinks of him/her self. Beth, you put it well when you said some journallers tell stories that seem to take place entirely in the author's brain. I get bored and dont come back. I like self deprecation too  it seems like youve gotta have it if youre going to be honest.

Id like to read about daily life, but edited  not First we went to the market, then we stopped over at the hardware store. Then I had to use the bathroom so we went to the mall. etc. Again I agree with Kim that an entry that starts out in the present and flashes back to last night or something is more interesting. Id like to read an essay that someone wrote, not just a brain dump of what they did in the last 24 hours.

I like journals of some process or project, like when Diane was going to screen writing school or Ceej was on a liquid fast. Depending on whos writing, journals about mental processes and progress can be interesting or boring.

I need some context  I read quite a few journals and dont always remember whos who. I like to read reviews, probably because I rarely go anywhere myself. I like forums especially if the journaller asks an interesting question each day. (Hi Beth!)

Jim mentioned integrity. I assume everyones telling the truth or at least their side. Either its true or theyre a good enough writer to make me believe it, and thats enough for me. I dont care if Beth tried to influence us  Im happy to get links to new things to read.

I want spelling and grammar to be correct; getting that right seems like the minimum requirement, like doing the HTML correctly. Style- wise, I just like some journals and are irritated by others. I dont like things in all lower case. I like dialog if its well written. I skip poetry & lyrics longer than a few lines. I dont really notice design  take it for granted if its good, dont mind if its bland. If a journal is hard to read or navigate I usually wont bother. Dark backgrounds are usually hard to read. I dont care about frames or not, if the navigation is thought out. Pictures are okay but dont add a lot for me.

My greatest irrational dislike is journals that are very dramatic, and that have a lot of one paragraph sentences:

Today, I discovered something shocking about myself.

I can be very cruel.

The dog got in my way, and I kicked her, and I instantly felt terrible for it.

I have spent the last hour crying and asking myself why.

But it is part of me, and I must learn to accept it.

etc

And finally, yes, its true, I do like those train wrecks.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

I'm going to be the contrarian here and admit that I don't like those train-wreck journals. Although I am a big fan of what Joe Queenan once called "a life-affirming malice," I can't bring myself to exercise it with regard to other people's journals. It just bores or depresses me to see people chronicling their self-made destruction. For the same reason, I really hate it when a journaler has a big, bad event overtake her or when a journaler does something big and scary/shocking- and a handful of other journalers feel compelled to dissect this person's life, comment on her choices, or generally use someone else's life as a way to make themselves feel better about theirs.

What I do like has already been mentioned: a sense of place and a life that takes place outside the author's head. I like reading the entries of people whose lives are just similar enough to evoke a small current of contextual understanding, and just different enough to inform and entertain me. I like when people reveal flashes of themself via their writing: telling me "I'm really disciplined" is boring; recounting the bench-pressing progress you're making at the gym provides me with a sense of who you were and who you're becoming. I like people who can step back and laugh at themselves.

I've been fascinated by the idea of putting your life online if only because it seems like such a challenge: how do you discern where the real story is while you're living it? The writers online I admire the most are the ones who can spin smaller stories, and in doing so, paint a big picture for us all.

----------------------------

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

I like reading about people's lives, the things they do, what they care about, that type of thing. I don't care so much about animals, because I'm not an animal person. Just because a journaler talks about her bird or cat or dog or whatever a lot doesn't mean that I won't keep coming back to read the journal if it's interesting.

I can't stand bad spelling or grammar. If I go to a new journal and everything is misspelled and all the sentences are run together and there's no capitalization, I don't come back. The same is true of illegible design. Sorry, but if your journal is in 9-point font, or is in purple type on a black background, I'm not going to read it.

I hate when journalers devote entire entries to sniping at each other. I don't care how much Chuck hates Dave or how Jim thinks everybody sucks or whatever. Give it a rest. If I want to read flames, I'll hang out on Usenet for awhile.

I really don't like journals that mix creative writing and regular entries. If you're going to write fiction, put it in a separate section of your site. I hate going to somebody's journal expecting to read a fun new entry about their day and instead seeing a fictional story in place of an entry. Fiction is great, but it's not a journal entry that I want to read.

Mostly, like I said before, I just like to read about the interesting things that happen in other people's lives. I'm a journal junkie, what can I say?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

Hey, hey, hey! Chuck doesn't hate Dave. He's just not terribly fond of me. Um, I think.

Somebody out there likes the flames. My hits used to rise from 200-250 to 500-600 every time I got into one of those durn flame wars. It's hard not to get addicted to that rush.

-- Recovering Flame Junkie

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2000

The only thing I hate is sweet potato pie, and a recent meal at Aunt Kizzie's Porch with Nancy of Perforated Lines changed my mind about that. If I can eat that, surely I can eat Da-- Uh... Well, you know what I mean.

Can't we all just get along? Or a short, if they're out of longs?

-- Anonymous, February 29, 2000

Checking out a new journal today reminded me of one of my powerful yet easily rectified dislikes: when, in an attempt to conceal the identities of close friends and relatives, journallers refer to people by initials. If you're trying to be coy or secretive or considerate or whatever, just invent a fake name (like, I dunno, Sidney or Aaron, for example.) I find it hard to get a sense of a whole human being from 1-3 initials. Maybe it's just me, but I think of W1 and W2 as tax forms and Whit and Will as little boys, to use an instance from Sometimes Deb. Worse is when everyone in a journaller's life gets initials and I can't tell AHD from ACJ. Even Kathryn Harrison didn't do this when she wrote that memoir about having an affair with her father.

(I always used to get a kick out of the weird names Meghan O'Hara would come up with for the friends she discussed in Squirrel Bait -- Beulah and Zarathustra, to name a couple.)

....................................................

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2000

sarcasm. and passion, enthusiasm for what they're talking about, not just talking for the sake of talking. i'm still experimenting with my journal, sometimes i think i get way too angsty. but then i am an angsty person a lot of the time, and if i didn't have my journal to vent in where would it all go?

my layout is a disaster at the moment though. navigation and content is fine, but just making the page look nice - argh.

anyway, i'm at http://purplerain.cjb.net if ya wanna look see.

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2000

Aww, man. If replies are still welcome, here's my two cents..

At the moment I only read four journals, besides maintaining my own. I guess what keeps me coming back is the familiarity. If I've read X number of entries and I feel like I know the person, and they pull me in via hook and line, I'm... well, hooked. Design is definitely important for first impressions, though it doesn't turn me off to a journal if the layout is changed. I think the content is important, and the purpose the poster has is essential.

For example, when I read Book of Rob, I never skip anything because Rob writes not only about his day, but he inserts those little jokes, things that make me laugh aloud. I visit his page almost every day, searching for tidbits about his wife and daughter, or his work, or how he's getting along in the move to Connecticut. Graphics are a big plus, especially the multitudes he's able to dredge up from the internet -- god knows how he does it.

Or Dana, who sticks a picture of herself in her journal every day and constantly includes sidesplitting remarks from her coworkers and comes up with hilarious names for weird people, like (my favorite) the Musical Ben Wa Woman.

In short, it's gotta be good writing, it's gotta hook me, and I gotta feel like I know the person.

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2000

Okay, here is my take on online journals:

* They've got to be humorous--or at least self-ironic * I like an occassional rant, but negativity ain't my cuppa Java. * You've got to be able to use a spellchecker. * I like talk about topics and strong opinions, rather than records of what happened every hour. * I also like it when you talk about social concerns or politics, even if I may not always agree. What counts is that you're involved in the community around you.

With that in mind, you're welcome to check out

The Semicolon; Confessions of a Grammarqueen

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2000