Today I went to uni and I saw some friends. We had pizza.
Wait...
This is a blog, isn't it? Not a diary. But is there a difference?
Laurie McNeill calls blogs "Internet Diaries" and refers to written diaries as "offline diaries" (McNeill, n.d). This implies that diaries themselves are very virtual based, despite starting off in written format. This could mean a schoolgirl's diary of her favourite crushes and bitchy friends, a sea captain's journal of the ship's voyage, or even a soldier's diary of the occurrences in the middle of a war.
However, since the advancement in technology, particularly the internet, diaries have evolved from being written on paper to being typed on a blog. A major difference being that on the internet, the diary can be seen by almost anyone.
Tumblr itself is a blogging site, however I know of very few people who use it as an online diary. Last semester, my college housed a few American's, one of which wrote a blog about her stay "down under." Most people, however, use Tumblr for blogging short text posts, pictures and occasionally videos.
Every blog also has a genre. According to this week's lecture slides:
"Genre
is also a way of expressing yourself through cultural products and consists of
Style: a way of expressing something that is
characteristic of a particular person, discipline or time period, and
Form: an arrangement of elements in a
composition or discourse" (Van Luyn, 2013).
For example, this blog's theme is Doctor Who. Many other themes include grunge, fandom, animal, modelling and even some that are inappropriate to younger persons. Certain people like to follow a certain blog theme.Reference List:
McNeill, L. (n.d). Diary 2.0. Language and New Media. pp314-325.
Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Lecture 6: Genre. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au.
You raise a good point, at what point does a diary become a blog. Is it simply the use of an internet form of communication that sets the two apart or is it something more innate. I always regarded the use of a diary as simply a tool for remembering, only read by the author. When the diary is published in a public format it should be considered something different. perhaps not a new genre but definitely a step in the evolution or progression of the writing style. Nice blog post by the way.
ReplyDeleteHey!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how much this weeks lecture could be related to Tumblr! It's so true, many individuals are using Tumblr as a writers blog, more than say particular themed blogs, like some you mentioned. I would more then happily write on my Tumblr blog about my day, the only trouble is, nobody would read it, I don't think I even would! It really does make me wonder then what is the point of posting diaries on Tumblr for that reason. I mean, unless you have a shit load of followers, then its highly unlikely that someone will reblog your day-to-day life. But then again, that isn't the point, your expressing yourself, so gives a crap, right?! Great post!