It would be unfair to categorize every member of the weblog/online journal populace as either a voyeur or an exhibitionist. Most people it seems are a bit of both - browsing the idiosyncrasies of others and at the same time showcasing their own. Online journals, weblogs, blogs, whatever you want to call them, are a dream come true for voyeurs and exhibitionists alike. Offering hours of secret spying, blogs are more importantly a platform to reveal the uninterrupted opinions, unmitigated genius, or mere day-to-day activities of any regular Joe on the street.

Each day more and more people fall prey to the biggest online trend since instant messaging. Just last week a friend, once an adamant opponent of online weblogging, started her very own journal with a disclaimer in its first entry. “Let the record show that on Monday, February 17th, 2003, at 12:31 AM, Lisa lost all her moral integrity and started a blog.” Acquaintances, strangers, cousins, even those who openly shunned weblogs in the past eventually give in and start their own blogspot accounts. Their reasons for doing so, however, are as varied as their font and color preferences.

Weblogs and online journals are essentially exhibitionistic. Each update is vulnerable to the curious eyes of every human being with access to the internet. With that in mind, some people cater their entries toward the masses in hopes of achieving local fame. Others find blogs a handy way to keep distant friends and relatives up to speed. Either way, entering into the land of blog is risky. Anyone can type a name into Google and voila, direct access to deepest thoughts, local gossip or at least an account of what someone had for lunch. Not only are people baring their souls online, through blogs people have access to other personal sites that may or may not contain personal and/or contact information. For those who are even slightly exhibitionists, this utter vulnerability doesn’t matter one bit. It’s when online personas and real lives mix that blogging becomes a bit tricky.

Posting online journals makes it possible to be observed, admired, and even stalked without knowing it, which is more of a possibility if you live in a community where the blogs you read are those of the people you go to class with. Most online journal communities are built around common interests, but for students, communities often form around existing social circles. Personal blog sites are listed at the end of emails and in AIM profiles. Getting to know someone is expedited by access to his or her blog. This may seem harmless, but in certain cases blogs are instruments of scrutiny.

The effect of weblogs is distancing in the voyeuristic sense that the subject observed may or may not know he or she is being observed. Voyeurs often see bloggers as bugs under a microscope, an inferior and remote life. There are people out there who obsess over people through blogs, both in positive and negative ways. Recently a friend’s roommate developed one of these obsessions. The subject was observed both through his blog and in real life during common classes. He was completely oblivious to the fact that someone was following the events in his life so closely. The line between voyeur and stalker is crossed when you’re able to recognize people from their websites and know them on a first name basis.

This is only one extreme. Not everyone who reads your blog is necessarily creepy or has intentions of stalking. Romance, yes romance, can blossom anywhere and blogs are no exception. Another friend just celebrated her one-year anniversary with her boyfriend whom she met through none other than livejournal. They were both members of a livejournal community based on a shared interest. He was intrigued with her weblog and commented on one of her entries regarding the attractiveness of Britney Spears. One thing led to another, they began chatting online, reading each other’s journals regularly, and on Valentine’s Day one year ago, they finally met. The rest is history, conveniently documented in archived livejournal entries.

Blogs have other technological advantages. Online journals are incredibly useful for the website handicapped. The interface is straightforward, no JavaScript or html coding skills required. Most services allow users to choose layout templates and customize colors, backgrounds and fonts. Give up a little personal information and privacy and stake out your own little nest on the web. Blogs can even help build self-esteem by offering validation in the form of comments, “two cents,” “eprops,” and the like. Some people are motivated to continue blogging by knowing someone is out there actively reading and responding. Plus, many people express themselves better through writing.

At a time of technologically induced isolation, blogs are neither for better nor worse. They offer users the ability to live secret lives of voyeurism, engaging in digital peepshows for their own gratification, distancing themselves from the subject observed as well as their real life counterparts. They enable a certain form of exhibitionism, where those who want to be heard are broadcast uninterrupted. Essentially, blogs are a new form of expression. A byproduct of this is that personal information is freely available to anyone and everyone. Weblogs can’t be escaped; you’ll stumble upon one sooner or later my friend, and when you do, good luck.