No one stopped writing diaries, they started publishing blogs instead
28 October 2024
Mali Waugh, writing for The Age:
I also think that keeping a written diary is not really done any more. I wonder whether part of this is that people are much more accepting of traditionally private things being put in the public domain. For the most part, this is a good thing but also sometimes disgusting, like when people share their nose job recovery pictures or their recipes for microwaved brie.
I kind of keep a dairy — but it’s more a listing of the day’s happenings — on some of my socials pages. In fact, my diary-style posts are just about the only content I publish on those pages.
But I doubt handwritten journaling has declined because people necessarily want to make details of their lives and thoughts more public. It’s simply because, no brainer, easier ways to keep a dairy have come along: the web, personal websites, blogs, social media, etc.
I couldn’t see myself starting a handwritten dairy at this point though. It would be more work. Another mouth that would to be fed content. It’d be too much like having a second website. Plus, paper diaries would be more stuff to haul around. It’s like I say: one personal website is enough.
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