Brought to you by: Breez DeGuzman
While journaling shares several characteristics with blogging in general, many bloggers still consider these to be two different activities. A journal, being regarded more like a personal diary, would have little functional resemblance to those blogs that publish gossip about movie stars and sports figures or follow the public record of politicians. Even though the journal is online and others can read it, it tends to be viewed as more private than a regular blog.
One difficulty with definitions stems from the blurring of lines between a personal blog and one obviously geared toward public consumption. Some personal blogs that clearly wouldn’t count as journals would be those dealing with books, recipes or pets. There’s no denying that personal details of one’s life appear in such web-logs, but those simply augment the main topic. Even posts about one’s children might be less about family life than about sharing helpful experiences with other parents. One thinks of journaling as something done primarily for one’s personal growth. Others might be able to read the entry, but the emphasis is on the writer’s self-expression and reflection on their own life.
This means that if they are journaling, they will need slightly different tools than those used by others when blogging. They may want to consult one of the websites that have now sprung up to offer daily prompts to get journal writers thinking and writing. On their own blog, they might need to lock some entries from public view. This feature makes sites like www.livejournal or www.wordpress attractive, since they allow private posts while a host like www.blogger.com does not. On the other hand, the writer probably won’t want to make monetary gains from the blog, so a hosting site that doesn’t allow advertising won’t inconvenience them. They might want a blog that allows photographs as well. Those won’t necessarily be public photos, but the writer may want them there, to associate with personal experiences.
Writing a clearly public blog is not quite the same thing as journaling, and even the types of blog entries will differ between them. Those who write journals might not need an elaborate program, being content with the more simple style of Diaryland, or they might prefer something as elaborate as WordPress. Everything will depend on personal preference. One thing any journal writer will insist upon, though, is that their site, whether one calls it a blog or a journal, is nothing at all like the gossip or political blogs.
![[Google]]( http://www.infobizforum.com/wp-content/plugins/easy-adsenser/google-light.gif)
