Internal Disconnection

Previously I've focused upon the idea that the type of blogging tools you use can effect the way that a blog might be constructed or maintained, and that now instead of keeping physical 'shoeboxes' of ideas and memories, we're moving towards hyperlinked memory:

Scraplogs and the Worldwide Shoebox.

However, I'd like to zoom out from individual blogging tools to consider a more important question: is blogging not only changing the way that we communicate with others, but also the way that we communicate with ourselves?

The art of keeping a private diary or journal has been a tradition that's lasted for centuries, although I'd suggest that it may be a dying (or at least faltering) art. A private diary is not only a powerful tool for recording personal histories, but the nature of its privacy also led to explorations of hopes, dreams, fears, and secrets. In a diary, angst can be expressed, demons can be exorcised, and the freedom exists to build elaborate dreams that could seem ridiculous to even close friends.

However, as our modes of schooling and working shift to the digital domain, both children and adults have been endowed with new tools and new methods of expression. Although we as adults write about ourselves and how our lives have been impacted, it may be worth considering that technological shift is never immediate, and that just as previous generations had no idea how we'd turn out, that we really don't know how new generations will react to growing up in a predominantly digital environment.

So does anyone out there still keep a diary? I know that one of my friends does, but it's a pure pen-and-paper affair, and it's a habit she developed a long time ago. However, she's also from a particular demographic - she's competent at business computing, but she doesn't post her photos online, she doesn't have a blog, and she doesn't have a Facebook account. Both my wife and I have private blogs that require passwords, but we don't really use them very much. I would guess that most people who start a blog aren't starting to make something private - they're doing exactly the opposite: claiming their own place in the global village fair where they can wax prolific.

Hence, there is a shift from private diaries to public journals. When I record my history it's now written for the possibility of a public audience, as opposed to be solely for my own amusement. This may improve the 'quality' of my writing, or my attention to technical accuracy, but what now happens to the emotional asides, the flights of fancy, the crazy poetry, or the strange sketches that might have accompanied these records if they were written in a closed diary? As technology advances we're seeing the return of sketching/doodling, and other expressive elements are being added to our journals, like video, animation, and mashups where there previously might have been a collage or collection of magazine clippings or concert and movie tickets. The ability to express creatively hasn't been diminished, but the desireability to express openly and to explore yourself internally has been, I would suggest, altered by the new media.

Cutting edge educators are very excited and proud to be among those who are providing their students with the tools and skills to go forward into the digital age. I've been excited about being able to give those kinds of utilitarian skills to my students, and I've certainly been caught in 'connectivity fervor' more than once. And why not? It really is something to be celebrated - there are now so many possibilities for communication, for connecting like minded people, and for sharing our expression and creativity with the world. However, with a focus on increased connectivity with the external world, there's a possibility that there's decreased connectivity with our internal worlds.

Solution: I believe that it begins with education and the early formation of habits and patterns. Instead of suggesting that everything is in the public domain and up for peer review, it would be advisable for teachers to maintain the privacy of some student work. Instead of just celebrating blogging as a public tool, it could be introduced in classrooms as a more flexible concept - one which has the ability to record private ideas.

Image by Paul Watson. Some Rights Reserved.