Mortified

Thanks to my good friend Enrique, I'm reading a fabulous compilation of teen angst stories. Actually, it's excerpts from teenage diaries.

The intro to the book made me think about writing and purpose. I mean, why do we write blogs? They are sort of public diaries in most cases. Only we know that other people are reading our thoughts, so we self-edit them and (usually) omit the most embarassing things. Unless we're writing to obtain pity. I wouldn't even consider writing some things on a blog, and I have a love-hate relationship with it because of its public-ness.

Here's what author D@vid N@delburg said in his intro:

"In the days before blogs, people transcribed their everyday events with ancient tools known as pens and paper. Back then, private thoughts were not written to serve as public spectacle. Rather, they were intensely guarded keepsakes, hidden under beds, locked in cabinets, or buried in the back of closets. These were called diaries ... or if they were owned by heterosexual males, journals. To their oh-so-sensitive authors, such books served as their confidante, their shrink, and in a few somewhat pathetic cases, their only friend."

Yeah, I do wish sometimes that I could write everything that jumped into my mind. But who knows who is reading this and what they would think?

Haven't we all thought about that on our blogs? Wondered if so-and-so sent Aunt Whatzername a link and if she should really be reading this?

I guess, in a way, that's the main pitfall of blogging. Some people don't self-censor enough. They don't realize that there's still a place for a diary if they want one (NOT on Internet) and that their blog isn't really private, even though you think you know who's reading it.

They badmouth their boss online, quit that job and apply for another and then (mysteriously, by the powers of the Internet!) their potential employer reads the blog and it's all ruined. Or they think that it's okay to post photos of themselves drinking in hot tubs on mysp@ce even though their students have access to their profiles.

The potential to build bridges before they are even built is HUGE on the information superhighway.

Here's to teenage angst books that make you think!