Question of the Day

[ayoub]

Do you write entries for your audience or for yourself?

Comments

[onlylisa.livejournal.com]

Ooo good question!
Both!
I dont want to be boring (cause there are some very boring folk on LJ!!)
But my journal is my diary and I want to record my life.
So I aim to do both. Usually that means having a bit of a laugh at myself - but that's ok with me.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

If you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

:D

[onlylisa.livejournal.com]

Oh I definitely laugh at some of the others too.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Some of them can be funnier :D

[avis-noctis.livejournal.com]

That’s a very good question. It brings up the greater issue of the “purpose” of LiveJournal in general. It’s a journal, some argue, so shouldn’t it be whatever the author wants? But it’s also, to an extent, broadcasted to a certain audience, so it should at least be a communicative device and not solely a tool for…well, talking to yourself. But then, one could argue that what people “sign up for” by mutually “friending” a person on LJ is a look into this person’s thoughts.

Personally, I go both ways. I don’t let my audience hinder what I write. I don’t withhold my opinions or true thoughts just because I think it could possibly irk someone on my friends list. They friended me with the knowledge that this was my journal and would likely contain my ideas. That said, I don’t purposefully provoke arguments and I rarely go off on some random tangent and talk about something that absolutely no one besides me will know or care about. This is partially because this is the kind of writing I like to read from others: I like to read introspective stuff, things that I might not otherwise know by merely seeing a person in “real life”, but I admittedly get confused if someone brings up something that I have no knowledge about at all.

So ultimately, I write the typical entry for both my audience and myself, since we are both key parts of the communication that’s going on. The entries start with me and my life, of course, but they must have content that I desire to convey to my friendlist to some degree. I use my LJ as both a means for personal documentation (i.e. recording instances of emotion or thought) and pure social interaction. But on average, a given post contains both these things.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

I love your posts :D

[cmerun12.livejournal.com]

Yes

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Ditto

[cmerun12.livejournal.com]

Isn't that what the filters are for? OR... you know... a totally different LJ account?

And you can almost always tell when I'm writing to get stuff out of my head. The tone of the post is different, the language used is a bit different.

When I'm being "entertaining" (or writing for others), it's usually fluff-stuff.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've tried the "different LJ accounts" thing, but I'm too lazy to maintain 'em all :P

And yeah, I hope people can tell from my tone too... :D

[celticblissy.livejournal.com]

Both

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah, me too, but I'll get into that a bit more deeply :D

[celticblissy.livejournal.com]

Fraid I have not got time to get into it more deeply, off to work.

Might try to later.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I posted my thoughts :) Have a good day at work!

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

depends on the entry

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I agree

[voldelange.livejournal.com]

usually i write for myself... if i write about my thoughts or what's happening to me; it helps me clear my mind and if you are gonna ask why i post them here it's because it doesn't hurt to hear another opinion over the things i'm going through... and there are other posts like the one i just wrote that are for the ones reading my journal... though i don't see them as an "audience" ;P

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

*pouncehugs*

Where've you been? :D

Great to see you! And yes, that's a great way to write :D

[dolorinterno.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess both. Mainly for myself, though! Maybe I have a multiple personality disorder........ um, i guess that's not really relevant. As previously stated, you can always tell by the tone of the entry if its purely just for shits and giggles or if its a personal matter. If its a personal matter then I'm just venting and looking for solace... aren't we all??

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Indeed we are... **hugs**

[chrissmari.livejournal.com]

for my audience... i mean i write about what i want to write about... but if no one was reading it i'd put it in a paper journal.. and not say half the shit I say..

if anyone says its for themselves they are 100% full of shit unless their journal is full of private posts.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

So you write for others to read, but nobody censors you?

[l-nephthys-l.livejournal.com]

Honestly - i write for myself. It's my journal, hence I write what is going through my mind and soul at the time. Memes are for audience, but all else is truly for myself, unless I am asking a question.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Cool :D

[donnickcottage.livejournal.com]

Both. The personal stuff is for me though I suppose I do take care with the wording as I know I'm being watched by at least one person at a time. The stories and poems are also for me as I love the process and the result; but I do so love when someone else reads and gets a kick out of what I create. If not, I wouldn't be doing it in a public forum.

[stalkings.livejournal.com]

I mainly write for myself. But as you know- sometimes I will post things specifically for my small public audience!

But yeah- I usually post for me. I have nothing to hide so I don't mind sharing my dirty deeds with the world! :p

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Dirty deeds? Where???

[tonya.livejournal.com]

Both, actually! Depends on the topic!

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

That's about the way of it :D

[tonya.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's mostly for the audience, but partly for me to document things. I like to look back and see what I was doing 1, 2, 3 years ago today, etc. And it's a good way to document my kids and their milestones!

[pasticcio.livejournal.com]

I think anyone who has an online blog or journal-type thing like LJ does it for the audience. I know I like the interaction and how people react to some of my entries. I think I'm a bit of an exhibitionist in some ways.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Nothing wrong with that! :D

[uawildcatgrl.livejournal.com]

I mostly write as a record for myself (and my family should they ever want to read) sometimes though I do write for the audience...I think it depends on my mood...my journal started out as therapy (my psychologist actually told me to write one) and it had to include moods and such (hence the mood theme) since I've stopped therapy it now seems more a chronicle of my day to day (which is how my moms hand written journals were) with the occasional "this fired me up today" type entry.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

I'm realising the therapeutic value of sharing feelings more and more... :)

[the-ravyn.livejournal.com]

I write...period.  Whether it's for myself or the "audience" is all a matter of individual interpretation.  There's always someone in the crowd who thinks it's "all about them" no matter how much you stress otherwise.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

It's a saddening thought, but yeah, that's so very true...

[katamphigorical.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...

I write for myself and thus tend to not censor what falls from my fingertips, but at the same time i'm aware that others are reading. That fact still doesn't hold me back from writing what i really want to write. My LJ is definitely a take it or leave it kind of affair. :)

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

That's the best way to be :)

[divalion.livejournal.com]

Everything I write, I write for me first in the sense that if it isn't burning in me to get out on paper, it's not worth writing.

But when I write here, I do try to write entertainingly, even if it's just an "OMG I had the best mac & cheese EVAR" post. =) If I'm posting here it's because I want people to read it, and hopefully enjoy it.

My public posts are the ones most directed towards an audience...they tend to be essays or PSAs or something that isn't just about my life.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Adding some entertainment is great... I mean, if you know people are reading, a little light heartedness makes the reader more comfortable.

[fox-bard.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yep :)

[empatia.livejournal.com]

It depends, mostly for myself. Somtimes as a mass e-mail.

More then anything I need it to speak my mind without being afraid of what people think...It's putting everything out there not being able to take it back. Its me, before i process things a hundred times, before i make pro/con lists, before I think is that a polite thing to say? its already out on livejournal all my world can see it it's too late to process, too late to care too much about what everyone thinks about my mindless words and unique ramblings.

It's my therapy.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

It's very therapeutic :D

[eternalxwhisper.livejournal.com]

I write to keep in touch. I enjoy sharing my life with others and seeing a difference in each and every one of us and how we go about our daily activities. I've made great friends among live journal and value their input should I feel the need to share a dilemma that I'd appreciate their opinion on.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

I share more of my thoughts than my life... But yeah, similar :D