Blog Post #2, "On Keeping a Notebook"

Almost every person I know has a Facebook, Twitter, or blog. What are one of the top things people love about these sites? Sharing things about themselves. Aside from Facebook and Twitter, however, blogs/diary keeping can be, and often is, much more than a narcisstic individual wanting everyone to read every thought that ever floated through their brain.
  When Didion talks about a diary helping one "keep in touch", I grasp what she means. Not only can a diary be a good outlet (though I don't feel this is enough healthy release on its own), but it has the potential to lead one to much self-discovery. As a person is writing, they can release their emotions, while at the same time seeing through the emotions to the bigger picture, that could even lead to a profound insight into their soul's inner-depths. However, that is an extreme, and can't be expected to happen every journal entry a person might have.
  I don't have a blog, diary, or even a Twitter. It just so happens that I bought a little journal yesterday, but it is not meant to keep a daily record of my life. It is meant more for a creative outlet, whether I feel like making a doodle, jotting down a quote or passage that resonates with me, and little odds and ends. I do have a Facebook, which I probably check a little less often than the average college student. Being on Facebook is more about connecting with others, to me, than sharing things about myself. I can't speak for everyone, though. There are certainly people that shout "hey, look at everything I'm doing, every second!" Still, Facebook is meant for a different purpose.
  Blogs give us the same freedom to write, express, and learn just as a diary does. The obvious difference is that a blog can easily be accessed by others (unlike a private journal meant for your eyes only), intended for others to read on a regular basis. That being said, writing in a blog could become more about what others have to say and think, rather than purely for ones own benefit. I have a feeling that if I kept a blog and diary simelanteously, my blog would start skewing from the original purpose of being an outlet (though it still would be partially that), and be directed more for an audience, than myself.
  Nonetheless, blogs and other social media forms can allow deeper insight into others than one would normally receive. With millions of blogs out there, we can gain a view of the world from many different perspectives than our own.