Someone asked me the other day why I write about personal stuff, what is the appeal of diaries, journals, personal blogs, and the like? I have been talking a lot about Posterous and life streams lately so perhaps this is a good opportunity to explain …
Bloggers are often obsessed about traffic, audience, subscribers, comments. Things change when you publish a personal blog. As well as hoping that others will read, perhaps far flung family members, or a potential book publisher, there is a different emphasis.
When you write a diary or personal blog, the main audience member is YOU.
We are not just talking about “Dear diary …” writing, but photography, video, podcasts and status updates. This is what is meant by a “life stream”. The stream is made up of many random bits and pieces but when you look back your memories jog and the fragments coalesce into an ordered history.
People worry about giving too many personal details away, but that worry does not necessarily need to stop you – this concern is hinged on assuming that you have to reveal everything, but in fact all you need to write, post or share is snippets. You can keep it safe while still gaining the benefits, because the intimate and personal stuff is filled in by your own memory once reminded.
What was once a difficult, fiddly or technical activity has now been made really easy by Posterous. All you need to be able to do is email, it does all the rest for you, even posting up video, audio and photographs. Check out my Posterous overview here.
