LJ as a tool isn't necessarily at fault for people behaving like losers and retards, although it does give people more opportunity to do so. when i first started blogging back in '98 the site i was on had no filters, you couldn't post something only to specified people, and anyone could read anything you wrote. i resisted LJ for a long time because of the kind of cloak-and-daggerish nature of posting here. at the base of it, the tools to behave like a complete tard exist on this site, but at the same time that doesn't mean you have to use them.
i use my journal to keep in touch with people, to read people that i really like and respect and find interesting, to toss ideas around and keep up with what's going on in other parts of the world. i have one other journal that has people that i trust and respect very deeply in which i wrestle with personal demons, log things that are very pertinent to my life and work at any given moment, and toss around bigger ideas that aren't ready for anyone to see or hear about but i kind of want to bounce off people. that's it. i have filters set up that i hardly ever use. i do not, however, leave everything open for everyone to see, which i know is hypocritical of me, but after experiencing what it's like to have what i say being taken out of context and dragged through the mud by stupid cunts, i figure i have the right to a private life.
at the end of the day, i really think that if people want to use an online medium to behave like idiots, let them. we ALL use it differently, in a way that fits our own needs. if someone uses a medium in a way that i think is childish and stupid, more power to them, i don't have to read their stuff, pay attention to them, or acknowledge their existence, and they can go on believing they're very clever and making a very intelligent use of their time. it doesn't have any bearing whatsoever on how i use the medium and what i use it for. let communities like childfree, the drama queens and the panting attention whores march on - i can see them as a microcosm for something more sinister and far-reaching, but at the end of the day, fuck people, IT'S THE INTERNET.
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i use my journal to keep in touch with people, to read people that i really like and respect and find interesting, to toss ideas around and keep up with what's going on in other parts of the world. i have one other journal that has people that i trust and respect very deeply in which i wrestle with personal demons, log things that are very pertinent to my life and work at any given moment, and toss around bigger ideas that aren't ready for anyone to see or hear about but i kind of want to bounce off people. that's it. i have filters set up that i hardly ever use. i do not, however, leave everything open for everyone to see, which i know is hypocritical of me, but after experiencing what it's like to have what i say being taken out of context and dragged through the mud by stupid cunts, i figure i have the right to a private life.
at the end of the day, i really think that if people want to use an online medium to behave like idiots, let them. we ALL use it differently, in a way that fits our own needs. if someone uses a medium in a way that i think is childish and stupid, more power to them, i don't have to read their stuff, pay attention to them, or acknowledge their existence, and they can go on believing they're very clever and making a very intelligent use of their time. it doesn't have any bearing whatsoever on how i use the medium and what i use it for. let communities like childfree, the drama queens and the panting attention whores march on - i can see them as a microcosm for something more sinister and far-reaching, but at the end of the day, fuck people, IT'S THE INTERNET.