I think I believe this:
In a sense, the internet is the most public place in the world, because anyone can access it, and if they know they are looking for you, they can find you. That said, people publish things on it it all the time--private things--that they may or may not say directly to their intimates.
Part of this is because the written word is more controlled, less gestural. It is no surprise to me that folks who don't say much but have rich internal discourses would, for example, keep diaries. Or at the very least take a particular pleasure in reading. But that said, it wouldn't explain why someone would want to publish their diary on the internet. Yet people do precisely that.
The answer, or at least what I believe is in "large part" the answer, is that when you express something to no one in particular, it feels like expressing something to no one at all. Hence, publishing something on the internet is like writing in a journal, in the sense that it is not directly intended for any audience in particular.
So that's the internet.
But what happens when you know everyone on the blog? Does the family blog harness the quasi-anonymity of the internet? Does it branch off in an entirely different direction?
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this i believe...for now:
a family blog at the outset is really kind of about Internet potentialities, rather actualities or traditions, and influenced by the composition of the invited authors.
i haven't a clue what this enterprise will produce, but am willing to read contributions from my near and dear. kalamazoo may be the cultural heartbeat of southwest michigan, but my kids aren't here, so....
a family blog doesn't share the anonymity of the wide-open I-net, b/c we know each other, more or less. some diaries are a rumination for self alone (e.g. the meditations of emperor marcus aurelius), but others approach the status of biography, composed with an imagined readership in mind. i'm just looking forward to occasional updates from family members on things that matter to them.
all blogs have a certain character, the more contributors, the more diffuse the profile. but a blog with a handful of contributors has a potential to disclose something with sharper definition, more distinctive features.
true, any yahoo, can read our blog, but that can be changed by throwing a switch. shall we go exclusive?
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