By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
IT was not until two years ago that I got hooked into blogging.
Before that, I found it absurd that people would post their thoughts and their daily activities for all the world to see. I found it even more absurd that people would post on their blogs yet change the preferences to private so other people will not read the entries. I thought, “Why create an online diary if you are not going to make it public anyway?”
So I shunned the idea of creating my own blog, even as my friends maintained either a personal website or an account with a blog site. But everything changed two years ago. My friend sent me a link to her blog, and I decided to check it out. Within minutes, I found myself absorbed in reading her blog and was amused at how many people gave their inputs to her entries. It was more like an online community where you can share your thoughts with your friends and they get to share their points of view as well.
It was then that I realized that blogs are more than just personal diaries where you write your daily activities. Rather, blogs are powerful tools for communicating with others. Nowadays, people use their blogs to share their most intimate thoughts, such as political views, entertainment rants and raves, and cultural views. Blogs like that of Newsbreak and PCIJ are just some of the popular online journals that people regularly visit to read about political insights and editorials.
That was when I decided to start my own blog. I created an account with LiveJournal, one of the popular blog sites today. What got me hooked into LiveJournal, or LJ, is that it allows you to create and participate in an online community where you can connect with hundreds of people. It’s also a plus that most of my friends have LJ accounts, making it easier for me to connect with them. Having an LJ account also lets me get in touch with my friends because I can read their entries and share my comments. It also gives me the venue to create new relationships, like participating in online communities and groups.
Below are some of the features available in LiveJournal:
- LJ communities — these function like online discussion boards where people group together to discuss common interests, like tea or Harry Potter. I, for one, am a member of several The Beatles LJ communities. The perks? I get updated about anything Beatles-related, like reunion concerts, Beatles merchandise, and even Beatles gossip. This is a great way to get connected from people all over the world who share the same interests as you.
- The LJ Scrapbook — if you own your personal scrapbook, then managing the LJ Scrapbook will be a breeze for you. The LJ Scrapbook allows you to post pictures of memorable events or people and personalize them according to your preference and style. LJ provides 1GB of free storage space for you to post all the photos and media you want.
- Memories — if you have a memorable event or occasion you want to remember forever, then place it in your LJ Memories.
- Customization — LJ allows you to customize your blog site depending on your style and preference. Your blog site includes an avatar or a picture of you that acts as your ID or nametag, so to speak. When you write your entries, you can also indicate your mood, and location, as well as the kind of music you are listening to right at the moment. This gives your reader a background or context of you as the writer as you were writing that particular entry.
- Protect your entries — another perk offered by LJ is protection. You can customize your entries with its protection feature. So if you want just a handful of close friends to read your entry, you can create your own list of people that you want access to your entry/entries.
- User-friendly — LJ is also user-friendly. If you aren’t knowledgeable with HTML, you don’t have to worry, because LJ has a step-by-step guide on how to manage and customize your site. It is also very easy to navigate, so it is also great for beginners. I have to admit though, that LJ is not as easy as Blogger or Wordpress. Nevertheless, its features are easy to learn.
I’ve been maintaining my blog for two years now. I’ve posted all kinds of entries, from my personal takes on political issues to seemingly mundane topics like love and friendship. Yet, I’m proud of my blog because I’m able to share my insights and take part in that great world of discourse and gossip.
June 3rd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
a newbie here! I only own a wordpress account and it isn’t much. hardly internet-savvy, this seminarian. still, blogging is a welcome distraction from hectic seminary life and my respite from ghostwriting homilies for friend-priests. i get to write on topics I really wanted to write about!
January 15th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
go bloggers! =) we are the “media”, the “press” and the writers of the future!
December 13th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
my first blogs were written at my Friendster account, would you believe? it was however an off and on thing.
now i maintain 3 blogs at blogger and there’s no more stopping me. i have even hooked up with other bloggers from my area in mindanao and have asked a friend to put up an aggregator site for us. this way we could give other people a positive picture of our place.
nice article!
December 8th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
This is a nice article by Ms. Abigail Kwok! I agree with her completely, as I also own an LJ account.
December 8th, 2007 at 10:08 am
2003. I saw my classmate writing in her blog (the graphics looked ugly back then). I said, it’s too inconvenient (I only had dial-up before), and only a few people read anyway. A lot of people followed suit, but I didn’t even care. It still didn’t make sense.
Zoom in to July 2007, I found a community with a few good services, started my own blog, and has been an active poster ever since. I can’t believe I said those things before. ^^,