It all started back in seventh grade with Gurl pages. I guess you would call it the gateway webpage. It had message boards, advice columns, profiles, and online journals. Everyday I signed on, which back in that era was quite a commitment, and wrote in my public diary about my boring life and the boys I had crushes on. Did anyone read it? Probably not, but the idea that someone might have thought my life intriguing and worth their time was good enough for me.
I let go of my ‘gurl' diary several years ago, but facebook and myspace have made the transition easy. Let's face it; we're a vain culture. Isn't that the central attraction with these sites? We love talking about ourselves, seeing ourselves, and observing what others think about ourselves. I'm guilty! I check out the ‘book to see who has written on my wall (I can usually count on Jillian) or see who has posted new photos.
But, the concept has really taken off because our generation is different. We've grown up with the internet. Communicating by email isn't impersonal to us. It's convenient. It's a way of saying, "Look I know you're busy, read this when you get a minute.'" Same goes for Myspace's blogs and text messaging. They are convenient ways of getting information. Maybe social networking sites are changing what people read, but my thought i: Reading something is better than not reading anything at all.
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