The Facebook Diary
By Tasman Murch
Just recently when analysing my virtual network of Facebook I came across a statues saying, "Facebook is not a diary, don't tell us your personal life!". When I saw this I completely agreed, as I was sick of people posting every little detail about what they did throughout the day and how much they expressed their feelings. After this weeks readings I can now understand the question that was raised by McNeill (2011), "Can we-and should we-read the online diary as another form of genre?".
When I think of a diary I think of the little book with the key lock that I wrote down all my secrets in, such as who I had a crush on and that I 'hated' my parents after a fight and being sent to my room. However, in more recent times, "majority of users have recreated the print diary in an online setting". This is what can now be seen on Facebook. A sense of an online diary.
I believe that online diaries should be a new genre in the intent that diaries are purely your personal thoughts. An example of this 'diary genre' can be seen on Facebook. When scrolling through my news feed I am constantly reading personal thoughts such as "Having a bad day. Woke up late, car wouldn't start and now I'm late for Uni". These were the sorts of things I would write in my dairy when I was younger by now it has evolved to an open, online diary. This online diary form is now even more noticeable with Facebook's new set up where you can tag a feeling such as- Tasman Murch is feeling annoyed.
Van Luyn (2013) stated in the lecture, "genres are socially based". This diary like genre is the new way that people express their feeling and thoughts online for the world to see and for people to comment and relate to what is being said.
References:
McNeill. (2011). Dairy 2.0?: a genre moves from page to screen. In C. Rowe & E.L. Wyss (Eds.),
Language and new media: Linguistic, cultural, and technological evolutions (pp. 313-325). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton
Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 6 notes.
[Power point]. Retrieved from www.learnjcu.com.au
Image credits:
Diary with lock [image]. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.google.com.au/search?q=diary+with+lock
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Hi Tasman. I agree with what you are saying at the beginning of your blog about becoming annoyed at everyone sharing every part of their day on Facebook, some even posting up to ten plus statuses a day. I believe this attitude could be due to our preconceived ideas that stories like these should be shared in a private diary under lock and key, whether we are aware of it or not. We grew up with the idea that a diary is confidential and secret, now it has transformed or rather, evolved into a public text on the internet. McNeill (2011, p. 315) refers to the online diary by stating “This combination of “newness” and “tradition” means that the diary comes to the Internet with a great deal of cultural baggage, loaded down with popular perceptions…”. So whether it is Facebook or a blog, I believe some people will struggle with coming to terms with how times have changed and how the genre of the diary has changed with them.
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ReplyDeleteHi Tasman, this is awesome! I love how you expressed your opinions and related it to the rather annoying posts that pop up on our news feed frequently. I believe some things people share are far to personal for any internet site. I believe some of the issues shared on Facebook should be kept in a lockable diary or even between a psychologist and themselves! Also I can not see how an online diary is safe, at all. Vicki states; "If you decide to post your diary online, just remember that it becomes an open book, available to anyone in the World Wide Web network, which, the last time I checked, is a network of about 938,710,929 people."(2005)
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion I believe; whether it is Facebook open to all your friends to see, or if you are labeled as anonymous in a blog, posting anything about your personal life is a disaster waiting to happen.