Week 5 Assigned Post

In Madeleine Sorapure’s “Screening Moments, Scrolling Lives: Diary Writing on the Web” she makes one point that really caught my attention. Sorapure states, “An online diary exists on the hard drive of a server, not in handwriting on a page with a particular shape and feel (4).” From my perspective this makes a lot of sense because when someone posts on a blog or webpage they are typing the entry instead of writing it. Therefore, the audience cannot observe or get feeling from the writer’s handwriting. However, I disagree that writing on the web is less personal that writing in a diary, journal, email, etc. This is because with computers and other various forms of technology today, web entries can be personalized. There are hundreds or even thousands of different font styles and colors that can be used. Pictures can be posted along with audio and videos as well.

In the blog “postsecret,” there are many examples of personality. Currently there are several pictures that pertain to Valentine’s Day. By looking at these pictures, and what these pictures are saying, the audience can get a little insight into how the author of Postsecret views Valentine’s Day. If the author of Postsecret were to do the same thing in a diary it would be messy and filled with glue. By using the Internet he or she has made a personal Valentine’s Day message.

Sorapure also uses an example in her article about how writing on the web does not show the age of an article of writing. Meaning that when a person writes in a diary the pages age, eventually yellow, and get an old a special look and feeling to them. However, when a page turns brown and falls apart, the content of the page is lost. If it was written on the Internet, the page will always be able to be read and enjoyed. Postsecret’s entry with all the different pictures displaying the subject of Valentine’s Day will not fall apart. It will be available year after year, and can be seen by millions of people.

There are several good and meaningful points in Sorapure’s article, but they do not prove that writing in a diary is better than writing on the web. Instead, the reader can gain a little more knowledge into the subject. Sorapure does seem to vote for not writing on the web, but at the same time this article available on the web. In the end, I think it is all about the writer’s preference and not what the audience wants.