A Generation with the Tools to Publish Their Emotions
Something generally motivates an individual to blog or publish something whether that is an academic assignment, a soapbox issue, an area of expertise, or just an exercise to reflect on one's thoughts. There is a generational analogy that I'd like to pursue along with that supposition. Older generations traditionally wrote diaries or journals in some sort of hard copy form... and privacy of that information may have included a small lock on the actual cover or container. Some of those same generations grew up with the telephone booth...a place to go when it was necessary to carry on a phone conversation in a public area. Now, public conversations with the ubiquitous cell phone are hardly private and are growing in acceptance across generational lines. The cell phone generation, however, grew up with an expanded tool set to accomplish their journaling needs and may feel as comfortable in expressing their thoughts online as easily as carrying on a private cell phone conversation in a public venue. The generational technology gap, in this case, may include different motivations as well as the zeitgeist of a new generation's view of privacy and socialization.
The Kansas City Star published a story by Nahal Toosi (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) today: Weblogs Creating Whole New Campus Culture.