"If only I could condense the why into a few sentences. At first, I had a few goals: I needed an outlet for expression, and I wanted to retain in my expression the raw candour that's difficult to convey face to face to people other than my closest friends. I hoped that my journal would strike a chord in someone, anyone, so that even though they'd never met me, they would find a connection with me. Now that I've been writing the journal for a few months, I've met a few individuals who empathized or sympathized with me.
The journal keeps me honest. When I sit down to write, I have to collect my thoughts and think about what I've done and what I want to do, and it helps me focus. I can't include everything in the journal, of course, and sometimes I leave things out that are bothering me or that I'm not proud of, but the anonymity of the internet helps me vent things that I'm hesitant to express in real life. I've been able to discuss things as serious as my emotional recovery from sexual assault to more minor concerns about midterms or dating.
What started as a fairly casual attempt to get some emotions out and make a few anonymous connections in cyberspace has turned into an evolving project of self-discovery. I don't expect feedback from readers, but when I do get feedback, it makes my day and it encourages me to continue posting pieces of my life for any curious wanderer to peruse."
"Originally, I felt a need to share what it is like to be a person inside with others. Noone had written anything of the sort online at that point - January '95. I took up the challenge of sharing my insides with other people. I sure didn't expect an audience, nor other online diary writers to appear.
I also needed an outlet for my thoughts that didn't rely on some single person. I was leaving my sweetheart of 10 years. He had been the person who I shared everything with. I couldn't share leaving him *with* him, and I didn't want to strand myself talking with another person. So I talked to the Internet! As it turned out, this was a really good idea. It worked. I've been talking with the Internet -- with people from around the world with all sorts of perspectives to share -- ever since.
I often try to imagine what life without an online diary would be like. Turning myself inside-out, sharing me, sharing who I am, with everyone who's interested... it's wonderful. I have wings. The FTF (face to face) creation of personality dissolves into who I really am.
I miss flying."
"i write to learn about myself -- by making myself articulate what i feel and think, i force myself to better understand who i am. why online? i may not be much of a writer, but i love it, and i guess there's some repressed exhibitionist part of me that likes to put entries up for people to see. (this must be different from the part that enjoys HTML.)"
More of This Article: People Post Online Diaries - From The People Themselves