Screening Moments, Scrolling Lives: Diary Writing on the Web

Abstract

An analysis of online diaries suggests some of the ways in which autobiographical stories and subjects are shaped on the Web. The computer as a writing tool, and the Web as a publishing medium, influence the practices of diary writing, affecting how diaries are written, what is written and to whom, and how they are read and interpreted.

Lifelogging: Privacy and empowerment with memories for life

“…Privacy tends not to be concentric, but generally takes the form of something like a Venn diagram of interlocking and overlapping spaces, where the Semantic Logger's transitivity assumption (if X can have access to p, and Y is a closer friend than X, then Y can have access to p) does not hold. Indeed, there is empirical evidence from the blogging world that quite often diarists actively prefer strangers to read their material, but discourage intimates (Sorapure 2003).…”

“…Most people will be uninterested or positively hostile, but, life being short and their being strangers, they will merely ignore one's website, rather than actively seek to trash it, vandalise it, leave offensive comments or misuse information revealed (de Laat 2008). A common variation on this is the thought that malign behaviour is actually more likely to be shown by friends (possibly offended by comments or intimate thoughts) and offline acquaintances, rather than strangers (Sorapure 2003).…”

When Travel Meets Tourism: Tracing Discourse inTony Wheeler's Blog

“…This is particularly true of the links that are listed alongside the entries. Blogs usually provide hyperlinks to other blogs, older entries, or to an email address (Rettberg, 2008;Serfaty, 2004b;Sorapure, 2003). For Sorapure (2003, p. 14) linking, both within the blog and to similar blogs, is an important feature that creates ''meaningful connections'' and ''conceptual transitions.''…”

“…Madeleine Sorapure (2003) observes that most blogs encourage feedback through links and comment boxes. For her, such interactive features point to the social nature of the blog.…”

“…For her, such interactive features point to the social nature of the blog. In fact, blogs are often discussed as social or conversational media, implying that bloggers are part of and engage with a community of authors and readers (Finin et al, 2008;Scoble & Israel, 2006;Sorapure, 2003). Yet, the comment box is noticeably absent in Tony Wheeler's Blog.…”