3. And another thought on online journals...

The online journal is quite the paradox. On one level, you are alone with your computer, allowing you to write down your most intimate thoughts, releasing those inhibitions that, in the public realm, would have taken over. But on another level, these expressions of intimacy are accessible to millions of people hooked up to cyberspace at any given time. While locks are available to keep entries private, just one person who reads it has the power to release that info to the world with a simple copy, paste, and click. Already I know of several instances where people have gotten into sticky situations because private ramblings became public controversies.

In that sense, online journals are like drugs. Drugs that people ingest to escape reality. But with a couple of clicks, reality catches up, the consequences are printed in writing for everyone to see, and the world is left to deal with the aftermath.

I like online journals.