28 July 2000

Reading:  Opinion Journal, the new Wall Street Journal daily e-zine.

Keeping an online journal is an interesting experience.  As I've described elsewhere, I keep this journal for myself, so I will have an historical daily account of the goings on in my life.  I also keep it because I enjoy writing on a daily basis, about any manner of things (most recently, I'm proudest of my Montrose entry, which was a fun piece and more of an essay than a personal diary entry, to the extent those two differ).  

It's the most personal aspects of the journal that sometimes cause me difficulty.  I'll note several examples.  First, I don't really write about intimate moments, except perhaps in vague code that doesn't reveal anything, but that I will be able to understand years from now; an example of this is the latter part of my 27 July 2000 entry.  Blame it on my Objectivist leanings, but I don't really feel like I have full "ownership" of those moments to splash them all over the web without the other party's knowledge or permission.  Second, I just don't really feel like publishing those moments.  Some things -- whether simply conversations or something more physical -- ARE intimate to me and aren't for others to see or to read about.  There will be no "Intimate Webcam" in my near future!

Second, there are times when I write about people close to me to illustrate a point, but that I don't want to belittle or criticize.  An example of this is my 24 July entry.  A is a very good friend.  I didn't want to use A's real name because the point of the entry was not to criticize A or question A -- indeed, I think A has come to share my own view of things.  The entry was meant to illustrate the situation within the organization:  the laughable circumstance of managers way up on the food chain voicing a desire for original thought and creativity and achievement, and setting conditions in place that make this impossible.  The point was to highlight my solution to the problem of an organization that frustrates me, A, and other like-minded achievers.

Third, I'm not entirely sure how to treat email.  Is all email sent to me journal fodder?  Does the sender have some ownership right, and do I need permission to reproduce parts of it?  I don't have any set rule on these, and rarely patch in people's emails anyway.  I'd rather the Message Boards serve as the area for these matters, because things posted there are unambiguously public.  Otherwise, I tend to evaluate these things on a case-by-case basis.

Fourth, how specific should I be with names, particularly when I am highly critical of someone?  I am not generally a negative person.  I am a happy person.  I don't like to dwell on negative people, or negative matters, and I don't keep this journal to single out those things.  Nonetheless, they do come up.  The best example of this are my entries on Enema (or Fleet -- see the 24 July, 22 June, 03 June, and 11 April entries ), my nickname for a person in the office who used to be a friend and who now has developed an irrational hatred for me because of my virtues and because of Enema's own self-esteem issues.  Anybody who really knows me can identify this person readily from my descriptions, but none of my journal entries identify her by name.  There are several reasons behind this:  1) I know people from the office are starting to visit my website and to ask about it, and there is no reason to make obvious to them (or anyone else) my own personal issues in the office; 2) There is a certain sense of honor in me that simply tells me if I have an issue with someone, I should deal with the person directly, not behind their back; again, the purpose of this journal is not for me to have a forum to rail on people I otherwise wouldn't rail on -- people who know me understand that I don't operate that way.  Now, obviously if Enema were to start a public (or gossip) campaign to undermine me, my sense of honor obviously would be misplaced and my policy would change.  So far as I know, Enema hasn't done that.

Fifth, I have been highly critical of the day job (to borrow Erzse's phraseology and writing style) in a number of entries (I'm too lazy to find the links right now).  Is this wise?  Probably not.  Do I care?  Not especially.  Hell, it might be kind of fun if some of the true idiots I write about on occasion -- Howard, Farrah, Tuna, Enema, Kenny (all excellent nicknames, I might add!), most of our highl-level management, etc. -- would make a visit sometime.  It's not like I hide my feelings, here or in the office.  *shrug*

So, those are some general thoughts on the topic of online journals and netiquette that I've been mulling over today.