Personal blogs are changing the way young people express themselves and interact with each other. These days, Xangas and LiveJournals provide flexible places to write almost anything, ranging from an account of one’s day to soul-searching ruminations to a detailed laundry list of complaints.
However, I’ve just read a creepy Newsweek article that reminds me of the need to keep personal blogs private. The article suggested that so-called “armchair anthropologists” should read college students’ blogs to get a sense of what college life is really like.
The idea of some random old guy reading my LiveJournal seems a little sketchy, and I don’t even write personal stuff in it. I have friends who do, however, and it seems strange that their college angst might come under the scrutiny of an “armchair anthropologist” or weirder still, of curious parents.
“Clearly the student blogs that tell us most about college are the ones that speak from the heart,” writes Newsweek. This reminds me that I never know who’s reading my LiveJournal, and that privacy settings exist for a reason.
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