This is really one for journal writers out there, but are your journals public? Do you write them anonymously, or does everyone you know read it? Have you done both? Which do you prefer? I'll explain what all this is about tomorrow...

-- Tim (tim@newmail.net), May 18, 2000

Answers

My journal is public, and all my friends know of it's existance. There's a link from my homepage, so I suppose my family could find it too if they really wanted to (or ever bothered to go to my homepage. Heh).

For the private journal, I keep a handwritten one, of the type that will be stored in locked boxes and when I die, my will will read 'Destroy this box without opening it'. That's where I write down everything - how I feel, things I've done, etc. Stuff that might hurt people.

I pondered doing the online journal anonomously, but I realized that it might tempt me to put out too much, or post information that might come back to haunt me. Far better to *know* that others are reading what I write. Keeps me honest, I suppose.

-- acatbyanyothername@pacbell.net), May 18, 2000.

i have a journal...lots actually... they are all private except for the ones i let my boyfriend read... but seriously i hope no one ever gets their hands on them.

-- Kristen Marie (puffysheepers@hotmail.com), May 18, 2000.

Nobody knows about my online journal as far as I know. I store it on our family computer so if my parents or sister were so inclined to snoop, they could find it easily, but so far, no such disasters. I used to do the paper journal thing on and off through elementary and middle school, then discovered this wonderful device called the keyboard. :) Has kept me good and lazy ever since.

-- Ducky (ducky@fukka50.com), May 18, 2000.

My journal is not public. I mean, it's on the Internet, but as far as I'm concerned, no one knows of it... I also have a journal offline, but that stuff isn't as private as the stuff online because my sister reads it, and I know it... (Gives me an idea to write bogus stuff in the notebook journal and see how she responds to it :P) I've also done a public online journal. I couldn't keep it for very long, knowing that everyone and their dog could go ahead and read it... So I prefer a private journal :\

-- Allie (cowboy@edible.nu), May 19, 2000.

My online journal used to be public to my on and offline friends, until one of my offline friends decided to make things very very unpleasant for me (let's just say it wasn't that dissimilar to what Katie's been through recently). I took a hiatus for a couple of months and then, using an alias, brought my journal back to a URL which none of my offline friends know. In fact, I don't think any of them know I still have an online journal. So only online friends read it, and that's exactly the way I like it. I feel like I can write whatever I want without worrying about who's reading it.

I have a paper journal too, but to be honest I'm not so dependant on that now - most of what I put in there goes in my online journal too.

-- Helen (breathe@oceanic.nu), May 19, 2000.

Hmm... I wonder if it's too late to post a reply to this or not. Oh vell, I'm going to post one anyway! I keep an online journal, which is rather scary to me when I sit down and actually think about it. Or stand, whichever. But I only send it out to nine or ten people in e-mails, so it's quite private. Which is good, because I'm horrid at keeping my own secrets, so this way I can say whatever I want, for the most part. Three people I know in real life read it, as well as sometimes my sister, but they're all people whom I trust, and would probably tell them the things I say in my journal anyway. I also have an offline journal, a diary thing, that I write in sometimes. Again, with things that would hurt other people, or are perhaps a bit too strong. But I share almost everything in my online journal.

-- Sarah Joy (yojjeth@hotmail.com), May 20, 2000.

I have one. An online journal, open to the general public, but under an assumed name because I'd like to keep my friends [online and off] from reading it. I'm scared they'd be a little critical... I'd rather write for myself [and a faceless public of two or three]. Yes, I'd rather have strangers perusing my innermost thoughts than close friends. Is that so odd?

-- Petra (Petra.Juden@thespark.com), May 23, 2000.

I have a very public journal that everyone except my family knows about. I've actually found it exciting to have others respond to parts of your life, and i love the way keeping a journal forces me to be more objective about my everyday happenings. There are some parts of my life (i.e. my boyfriend) that i just don't discuss, but i never seem to have a problem finding something to write about. I think it's a good way to see you really do have an interesting life, and it's a great way to meet people. Nae

-- Nae (nae@quietones.com), May 24, 2000.

My journal is pretty public, I guess. It has my real name on it, and since my site can be found by typing my name into google, anyone could find it, really.

I don't care that much about that. It's my journal, my thoughts, my bitchiness and non-objectiveness. They know that going in. If they don't want to know what I think about them, they should go to other parts of my site.

['They' being my family and friends, of course.]

-- Sofie (minerva@femgeeks.net), January 24, 2001.