November 7, 2007
Wednesday

I joined the community of people who had online journals in 1999 after stumbling on two discussion lists, Diary-l and Journals. Each had its own personality. Discussion topics were wide-ranging and there was the occasional flame war. Though Diary-l had been established for three years, I came early enough into the world of online journals that I can consider myself an elder. I watched both lists grow and change and adapt. Diary-l, which had been the dominant community force, eventually faded, and now sees very little traffic. Journals continues with a small group that posts regularly, and of all the online groups that I belong to, it is probably the one I value the most.

In its heyday, Diary-l was a flourishing diverse community. It’s the place where I engaged in discussion of what we should call ourselves. We weren’t “journalists,” we were “journalers,” people who kept a journal online. We debated the difference, if any, between an “online journal” and a “blog.” (“Blog” and “bloggers” seems to have become the most common term.) Like any diverse community, the members organized themselves into smaller communities, called “‘burbs” (always with the apostrophe), loose lists of journals thought to be similar, with or without an attached discussion list. I aligned myself with No Spring Chicken (journalers over 30), the Autumn Leaves (journalers over 50), and Spit/Glance/Upload (journalers who present stream-of-consciousness first draft work).

A check of the ‘burbs list still available at Diarist.net told me what I suspected: most of the links are either obsolete or gone 404. But looking over them brought back memories, a certain nostalgia for a community that no longer exists and acquaintances who have moved on to other pursuits.

Because NaBloPoMo is now situated on a social networking site, the same phenomenon of members dividing themselves into subgroups has taken place. The nearly 6000 NaBloPoMo members have formed more than 350 groups, each with its own focus and discussion area. At the beginning of the month I merrily clicked to join every group that seemed pertinent to me: knitters, citizens of Pennsylvania, bloggers over 50. Just last night I joined a new group, INFP Bloggers, writers who score as introverted, intuitive, feeling perceptives on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

And I think I’m going to stop there. Like many INFPs, I spend a lot of time thinking rather than doing, keeping my options open, and being afraid to close doors on any alternatives. I need to focus on completing the tasks required to cover my absence at home and free me to enjoy my time in Wyoming, so I can then focus on my writing, rather than writing about my writing.

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