What is the first thing that you notice in a journal? What grabs you? What turns you off right away? How did you start reading online journals and which was the first one that hooked you? When did you start reading them? Do you find that you read journals that you aren't really interested in just because it's sort of a habit now?

Do you think you'll always read them? Do you have one? If you are a reader who doesn't have one, what keeps you coming back?

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

Answers

I can't remember how I started reading online journals. I have found that I do definitely prefer a certain type of journaler, though. Generally if the writer isn't a woman aged within 5 years of me (I'm 24) I don't find much of interest.

I try to stop reading journals when I get bored with them, but it can be difficult because I get into the habit of checking them for updates and being disappointed by the boring entry therein. I have culled a few from my bookmark file recently, and the ones I regularly (i.e. whenever they update) read are Dorothy's Love, Curiosity, Freckles and Doubt, Squishy, Just a Girl, and my most recent discovery - Gracefully Yours. I'm ploughing through Grace's archives at the moment and really enjoying them.

I like journals that combine telling me about their day, exploring their views on various topics, and dredging up memories that illustrate something about them.

I have toyed with the idea of starting my own journal, but the main obstacle is a complete lack of technical skills. Tristan could solve this problem, but then he'd obviously want to read it, and I just don't know if it would work. I'd also be scared I'd have nothing to say, or that I'd be one of those dreadful journalers who harp on and on about how busy they are and how they scarcely have time to write their journal, let alone live the rest of their exciting and action-packed lives. I don't appreciate people who aren't intelligent enough to make their day less busy if they can't handle it all, I don't consider stress some kind of virtue, and I find it boring to read.

I think humour is a vital journal element. To be completely honest, after reading the four journals I regularly visit I now would be scared that my writing would be viewed as complete bollocks in comparison. I would like to do it though, to add to the journals not based in the USA. I don't think I've read many London-based journals - I can only think of one, by a dull Irish guy.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

I found online journals through a link to Kymm's page. It was listed as a humorous site, and at the time, I had no idea online journals existed. I read through her archives (a very long process) and then looked to her links for other journals. I have been reading for about a year now.

I can't say specifically what grabs me in any one journal but I can tell after reading a few entries if I will like it. I usually go to a few random entries in the archives to decide. Humor helps, but isn't always necessary. I also don't have to have anything in common with the journaler to enjoy the journal. I think that I have little in common with Patrick or Lynda for example, but read them both every day.

I don't have a journal (online or otherwise) and have never kept one. After reading so many good ones, I would be intimidated at this point (both by my lack of web design skills and writing skills). I would like to thank all the online journalers, though, who allow us into their lives!

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

How to turn me on to your journal:

1) intelligence
2) wit
3) style
4) frequency
5) good design

And how to turn me off:

1) incorrect grammar/spelling (besides obvious typos, of course)
2) host your journal on Geocities, Tripod, etc.
3) kill the page with banners, awards, or webrings

I tend to read a newly discovered journal in stages:

1) read the first entry I find
2) read some of the archives
3) read daily for a week or so
4) either delete the bookmark or add it to my daily section

If a journal makes my daily section it takes a lot before I'll ditch it. In fact, I've still got several journals bookmarked that no longer exist. heh.

DinoNeil
http://www.comsource.net/~nheidorn/

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

It's hard to waste hours upon hours at work surfing the web without intent. I spent lot's of dough on Ebay, laughed at personal ads, and insulted a lot of 12 year old perverts in chat rooms before I followed a Yahoo Cool Link of the Day to Metajournals. After surfing journals for weeks, I settled on about 30 sites that I check daily. I've been a regular reader for eight months or so.

The journals I like are witty, smart, and actually say something. I tire of journalers that use three times as many adjectives as they do verbs. Elitist scum that they are (whatever), most of my favorites can be found in the Archipelago ring.

I was reading one of my regular journals when I stumbled across Pamie's Panties last fall. I can't remember which journaler posted the link, but I must have respected him/her enough to follow it even though I cringed as I clicked. Pamie, you cracked me up. I went through all of the drawers and even emailed my husband (aka He Who Scoffs at Journals) quite a few of your entries. You still crack us up all the time and someday we're going to catch your show in Austin.

I've just started a journal (again) and I've committed myself to write for six months. I can't compete with the excellence of this journal or many others, but I have a new relaxed attitude about it and it's fun so far. Feel free to visit:

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/JennI

You may be the first visitor!

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

There was a time when I kept up with over 35 on-line journals - what seemed to attract me the most were those people with lives so diametrically opposed to mine - also, good writing prevails. I loathe ungrammatical sentences and poor spelling. I've never had an interest in "teen" journals (after all, if I want to know what it's like to be in the throes of adolescent angst I can re-read my own handwritten journals). Quirky viewpoints are interesting. Presently, I don't have as much time (or inclination) but I have a core select group (with Squishy, natch, at the top of the list) that I check on a regular basis.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

I like humor and good writing, of course -- who doesn't? But it really helps if the journaller has an interesting life, especially if they're involved in something outside of my own experience. I like Nova Notes in part because I can't really imagine coping with his life. Pamie is interesting both because she's a riot, and because it's so cool hearing what she and the Monks are up to. Plus Eric seems to be the perfect man.

I started reading journals when I followed a "recommended" link to "The Loser Living Upstairs," to which I quickly became addicted. I think I followed a link from there to "Open Pages," and that really got me hooked.

For those who would like to keep a journal but have no computer skills/time/server space, the Open Diary (www.opendiary.com) will host your anonymous journal for free, and the interface for updates, choosing font and background, etc., is completely painless. It's well worth a visit.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

The number one things that will get me to read a journal is humor and sarcasm - two things I just love!! Hey, if anyone knows some really good journals like that, please let me know (I know, that was part of another post, but I'm putting it here anyway as I'm already on the subject).

I think design is important, but it will never encourage me or discourage me from reading a journal. I've seen ones that blew me away with the graphics and layout but the words in the journal just fizzled and I never went back.

I don't really care about the age of the journalist as I've seen some journals from 15 years old that totally blew my own journal away (not that it's hard to do...hehehe). But whether the journaler is 15 of 55, I think content is the most important. I have to be interested in what the person writes or there really is no point in me being there.

http://www.lucids.com

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

Being as I have a journal, I have to defend my honor here. I do NOT like Tripod, *BUT* I don't have anywhere else to put my journal. So there. Don't pick on me because I'm not cool enough to have my own site. Hotmail works for free email, and Tripod works for free websites. Besides, Tripod is MUCH better than Geocities. That's something, right?

I like websites that are frequently updated, preferably daily (unlike mine); are funny (I hope like mine); and that have kick ass design (I know I suck at that!).

I like Pamie because she's funny as hell. I love the back-and-forth dialoge of her and Eric. I really enjoy it when she makes her animals "talk".

I like Dave Van because..well...I guess because his kids pee on the carpet and smear butter into the wall. How can you resist that?

I like Uncle Aussie because she's so damn SMART and very very clever. Those are not neccesarily the same thing, by the way. I thought she was a crusty Brit for the longest time, and then she mentioned Austin and I was blown away. And, like Pamie, she lived in hotels.

I like Columbine because she's so smart, but also because I am so fasciniated by her life. You read it and figure out what I mean.

I guess I look for smart writers...

I dislike intensly any journal written by a 'teeny bopper'. If you're young, fine. If you're enthusiastic, fine. If you write things like, "Ohmigod, I met this so fine dude today but he totally liked someone else so now i have to go to contempo and get the sickest outfit there that little hoochie will be sooo forgotten when that fine dude sees me ohmigod i so bombed my history test"...forget it! That's one link I'm burning!

I don't talk like that, do I? Ohmigod!

MellieBee (if you want to check out my finally updated site, http://members.tripod.com/MellieBee. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

The first journal I ever read was Ginkgo's. That was it for a long time, because I liked how she rambled and kinda talked about nothing and everything, and at the time, I was very caught up in awe of people like her, and Moyra and the other Digital Divas, so the original reason for visiting was the art. I wanted to see graphics, and I got words instead, so I started reading...and I was hooked.

When Ginkgo stopped writing for a long period of time, I looked elsewhere. I visited the sites of a couple of journal rings, looking for smaller ones, because rings that will accept anyone anywhere are no use to me. I started reading the Modern Gypsy, and later found Jabberwocky and Willa's Journal...then Ceit's Book of the Amber Dragon, and Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book, which eventualy led me here!

I look for interesting stories told well. It helps me if I know first off that you are some kind of proffessional writer, like a journalist, or playwrite. That tells me you at least know how to concot a story and keep it interesting. I also like sites with either good graphics, or at least a nice, solid, eazy-to-download theme. But the asthetics are low on my list of things I like in a journal. I love being made to cry or laugh, but not to yawn.

I do write my own journal, now...it looked like fun, and I thought I'd try it out. It's not the greatest, but my friends read it, and like it, and my two biggest fans (Dad and my fiancee, Bill) were especialy upset when I took it offline for a breather. I am still developing my style, and I have a long way to go. I will say this, though: thank God for spelling checkers.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

After getting a little hooked on no less than eight journals, with Squishy ranking far and above all of them, of course, I decided to start my own and found it much more difficult than I ever expected. Although I write for the web (yes, it's my job) I am not techno-proficient exactly and was worried that maybe no one would care about my grandmother at the airport or the guy at Chevron who is in love with me. I haven't figured out yet if I was right. (You decide: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atrium/2958)

I like a nicely designed page (although mine is very poorly designed due to limited resources) as well as the next guy but, what I really come back for, is good writing. I have found that who I read most are people who are close to my age (26) and in the same places in their lives (ie: unmarried, creative professionals). I don't like too much angst - I figure, when I read a real bitchy entry from some teenager, "if this kid has a computer, her life can't suck too bad..."

Humor is good. Pictures are good. I don't know. The journals I like best are ones that, when I read them, it is like getting a letter from a friend, or at least someone with whom you'd like to be friends.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

I look for humor, something I can relate to, and couldn't give a flip about the grammer or spelling. The latter only because I am my own worse editor.

I hate banners, animation, and lots of crap on a site.

The first journal I got hooked on was Beth of "Dear Jackie Robinson." Still morning that loss, however, through her I found a whole new world of vouyueristic pleasure.

I think Melody turned me on to Pamie, or maybe a link from Austin Stories.

I have a list I regularly read. I am a daily reader, as well as writer.

I am proud to be the "of" in the Austin journal group.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

The only journals that have managed to permanently captivate me so far have all had a good sense of humour, sarcasm and excerpts of conversations from their daily lives. Squishy has been my favourite so far because it entails all the best of these features. Good design always helps, as does good spelling, but it's not an absolute must. The journal writer doesn't neccessarily need to have a fantastic life, just the ability to draw interesting - and humourus - thoughts from it. I get bored very quickly with those who always seem to be on a soapbox without ever really revealling the lighter side of themselves - way too depressing! But unfortunately that seems to be most of them. My list of good journals seems to be dwindling fast lately with journals such as squirrel and sun, shine & rainbows stopping. So Pamie - don't you dare ever stop ! ya hear me? :)

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

Mogs,

Sunshine, Mud & Rainbows is still up and running. Dave almost quit last month, but then he chose not to (and I think I actually heard that sigh of relief from all his readers). I suggest you go and read all the entries that you missed - some of them are hysterical.

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999

The first on-line journal I read was The Mighty Kymm. I am pleased to say that I am still a faithful reader, and read her archives in a relatively short period of time (only because I was avoiding writng my masters thesis).

Currently, I read Love, Curiosity, Freckles and Doubt, Karma, Fluidity, Willow's Repetiore, and of course, Pamie. There are others I read, but not as regularly as these ones.

I like a jounral that is honest, and where the jounraller feels they have the freedom to express all range of emotions. As much as the jounral may be read by others, and thus being a "quasi-public" space, the journal is still the space of the person writing it. Jounrallers who can be happy and funny, scared, angry, and admit that we are all at the mercy of our insecurities are the best journals, in my humble opinion.

After reading journals, and being an offline journaller for years, I took the plunge and started my own on-line journal: (my) blood, sweat, tears. Nothing fancy, no graphics, hosted by geocities, and is a demonstration of my lack of technical skills. But. . . .there have been times in the last year, when I have needed a space, and used my journal as a place of celebration and pain, happiness and laughter, tears and anger.

My jounral has become the one place where I always feel safe.

www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/5991/My_Journal/Journal_Index

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999

The first thing I notice in a journal is voice - usually a sense of humor is good, but not completely necessary. I used to only read journals of people similar to me - women in the 20s or 30s but lately I have been branching out more. I like frequent (more than once a week) updates if possible. Mostly just good writing - although I get bored easily with seriously introspective or depressive journals where every day is like "I held a blood red orange the color of the sun and thought how my life will never be that bold."

I started reading Squishy through Hissyfit, and from there I found the rest of the online journal world. This all happened in January while I was on winter break from school and bored.

I now follow about 35 journals, but I'm on notify lists for most of the ones that aren't daily so I don't have to spend that much time surfing. Sometimes I go a-hunting for new ones (usually when one of my regulars up and quits on me!) and it always takes me a long time to settle on one. I give them a try out in my Favorites list for a week or so, and then delete it if it doesn't make the grade.

I don't think I will always read as many as I do now, but I will read some, especially Squishy, as long as the writer keeps writing. Once I am out of school, I won't have as much spare time as I do now!

I do have a journal: it's called Fresh Hell: The Journal. I like doing it because it forces me to write something every day and I have a small core of regulars. Plus I think 25 years from now it's going to be a great record of what my life was like in 1999.

Kim

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999

Just to clarify the point, I have nothing against those who use free services such as Hotmail, Geocities, Tripod, et al. I do, however, have something against the nastiness those companies stoop to in order to try and grab my attention. The more they try the less likely it becomes.

Anyway, I just wanted you guys to know that I'm not completely heartless. Carry on... =)

DinoNeil

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999

I like journals that make me laugh or are at least interesting. Being a teenager, i've got enough angst to satisfy me, so I don't tend to be drawn to the, "i hate myself. i hate my parents. i hate my life. i hate everyone. die. die. die." crowd. Nor am i interested in people that i think are lying. the writer has to have a truthful, honest voice to grab me.

i've been addicted to online journals for about the past year or so. I can't remember the first one I came across. I think that it was probably annie from out of order ... anyone else read her? I probably read about 15-20 journals regularly.

i have a web journal of my own. it pretty much sucks in comparison to everyone else's that i read. BUT, i'm working on it .. i don't know too much about design, yet ... but i'm trying. I'd be very grateful if you'd take a look at it and send me any and all comments you have about it! :) http://www.angelfire.com/tx/WildHoneyPie

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999

I started reading journals by first venturing into the now defunct world of Psyche of Bittersweet Consecration (who now does Conversation among the ruins.) She introduced me to the world of online journals.

While reading online journals, I look for content and a unique perspective on life. Humor is good, but it doesn't really make or break a site for me. As long as the writing isn't contrived and says something other than 'this is what i did today' i will at least look at it and give it a chance.

what i mostly want though, is the journaller to elaborate on their feelings, actions, and events so you fully understand the person and can sympathize with their situation. if they can successfully draw me in like that, I'm hooked. But I am also finicky about which journals I read on a daily basis: Crappy Days, Squishy, Digital Ink, and the now defunct Zen and the Art. . . were the select few I would read daily.

I too have an online journal. It is located at Clarity. I am a teenager, though I don't consider myself depressed or angsty like many journallers might assume. I feel kind of 'out-of-the-loop' among journallers because of that stereotype. Like the little brother/sister saying 'can i play too?' with wide eyes but still is kind of ignored.

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999

Humor is key, as are tales of horrible relationships, or relationshippy things, because that's the sort of thing that I write about, and I like reading about people that could be me. Anyway, I started off using Geocities before I knew any better, and now I have so many pages with Geocities code embedded in them, it would be a pain in the ass to move it somewhere else-- in fact, I'm not even sure if I could, because I have no way of uploading files with my stupid computer.

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999

I'm a teeny bopper, and I've been reading online journals for about four years. The first one I ever read was either Meri or Sophie who is not around anymore. She got bigheaded, boring, and then decided that she needed a "real" life.

It really helps if the author has a real life. If all you do is sit in front of your computer all day and whine about not having a boyfriend, chances are I will not even get through one entry.

You have to have some idea of how the real world works. I'm not saying I do, but you have to look beyond yourself and talk about current events, people, your life and the people around you.

Sarcasm and humour helps. As a teenybopper, I admit I wallow in angst a bit too much. This is evil and should be abolished. Talk of your miseries, but make people laugh.

Punctuation and decent grammar is nice.

Pamie has everything you could possibly want in a journal right here. Pamie is God.

-- Anonymous, June 17, 1999

I discovered online journals about nine months ago, when I went into one of those search engines in order to find some ideas for my paper journal. I immediately got hooked and at this writing, there are about a dozen journals that I read regularly. The journals that I tend to be drawn to are those where I can strongly identify with the writer. Humor is a plus as well, but is isn't necessary. The journals that turn me off are those that have constant spelling/grammer errors (everyone makes typos, but over an entire entry full of them?), journals that are incoherant and journals that are mere laundry lists of the writer's day; for instance, journals that just say, "I woke up, went to work, came home, had dinner and went to bed" without giving any inkling into the writer's soul on a regular basis. I need thoughts, opinions and feelings in my journals. I might put my journal online, were it not for the fact that I totally lack technical skills. Right now, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to share in other people's lives.

-- Anonymous, June 18, 1999

I like for a journal to be personal. That sounds like an obvious characteristic, but it really isn't. It's irritating to me when I read a journal that's well-written but it feels bland just because I know, and maybe the writer knows too, that it's all a bunch of bullshit they jotted down because they figure that's what people want to hear. Unfortunately, there is a big audience for these types of journals because some people just love being spoon-fed the same crap over and over (aka people who make video requests on Total Request Live).

I also hate when I get on a website and I see "journal" and what's behind it is a bunch of nothing. Why tease me? Why not just put "My latest boring spiel about my best friend and how she always pisses me off because she's borrows my lipstick without asking."

-- just for the record, I'm not saying what I write is bad ass, but at least I attempt to be an individual. That's the best and most crucial part of writing a journal.

I think it's when people get caught up in everyone reading it that they start censoring themselves or maybe they just stop wanting to be creative when it's written for someone else's pleasure.

I guess I like writers who write for themselves. An obvious trait that's hard to come by.

(this is off topic, but pamie, do you ever post at the Jane messageboards?)

-- Anonymous, July 06, 1999