People always are looking for new ways to meet people. The Internet has been a reliable source, with AOL Instant Messenger, chat rooms and now, online journals.
Online journals are a way for people to record their daily events, evaluate their own writing and, most importantly, meet people with similar interests.
One of the most prominent of the online journals is Livejournal.
“Livejournal is not just an online journal; it’s an interactive community,” the Livejournal Web site said. “You can meet new friends, read and comment in other journals, and interact with people from around the world who share your interests.”
Brad Fitzpatrick started Livejournal in March 1999, when he was a computer science student in college. The Web site began as a simple database-driven method.
As Livejournal became larger, it eventually became an open source software which allows for the creation of personal journals, weblogs and communities dedicated to many diverse subjects.
Students on campus are only a small percentage of more than a million users around the world that Livejournal has attracted.
Colin Nelson, an English junior, created journals as a way of staying in touch with people, especially friends who have moved away.
“I also do it mostly to meet people with similar interests as me because I don’t really like to go out to bars,” Nelson said. “It’s hard to meet people these days, and this is an easy way to break the ice.”
John Durham, a philosophy graduate student, said he started his journal as a way to meet new and interesting people after many of his friends graduated and moved away.
“I use my journal as an enrichment,” Durham said. “It helps me to develop my writing, and at the same time I can share it with people who are interested.”
The communities created on Livejournal provide a way of finding advice pertaining to certain subjects.
Nelson said that being a member of certain communities on Livejournal has helped him out with his career.
“There are people all around the world that I’ve met through the communities, and I can ask them about things like grad schools,” Nelson said.
Students also become members of the Baton Rouge and Baton Rouge Music communities, as a way to be updated on what is going on in their areas.
“The Baton Rouge Music community is helpful because it tells me what shows are coming up,” Lindsay Devillier, a business management freshman said.
Durham said when he posts in the Baton Rouge Music community, he really tries to get people involved with local music.
Along with keeping their journals as daily updates of the events in their lives, many people like to post their own writing, such as stories, poetry and prose in hopes of receiving constructive criticism.
While Nelson said he likes to post his philosophical thoughts and write daily updates, Durham said he prefers to concentrate solely on his writing in his journal.
“Since I write poetry, I want it to be read,” Durham said. “So I think of Livejournal as an audience. It’s basically a publishing tool. I’m publishing my work outside of putting it in a book — I’m doing it online. It’s the 21st century’s publishing revolution.”
Along with Durham, Mandy Cambry, an English freshman, said she also prefers to get feedback on her short stories and poems, and even feedback on her personal feelings. Cambry said it is a good way of receiving advice from an objective viewpoint.
Livejournal provides a tutorial on how to get started with creating the journal, and also touches on the different features offered with a paid account, the Web site said.
While free accounts are fairly basic, paid accounts offer customization, which provides some basic HTML knowledge.
“With a paid account, as far as the layout, I can customize the way my journal looks,” Devillier said. “Livejournal is really helpful for people who don’t know HTML.”
Some people are hesitant to meet people online, but with Livejournal, students can check out a user’s profile and their entries before they make any hasty decisions to be close friends, Durham said.
Luckily, users have the choice of who can view their profiles, and who cannot.
When a new user wants to create an account, they must be invited by an already existing member and receive a code to start it, the Web site said.
The user has the choice to make the journal public, friends only, or private.
A user can even create custom groups of friends who will be the only ones to see the entry, Devillier said. This gives the user a better sense of security when updating their journal.