REPLY TO COMMENTS

A very big THANK YOU to each and everyone who had commented on my previous post. It is nice to have opinions shared among each other. There are a few, however, who have posted questions and I have collated them in this posts and answer them.

1. Questions asked by - by el0quence.
   
   "what u think is the nicest blog?"
   
   Nicest? Well, personally, I think every blog has their own uniqueness. Blogspot, for example, has this website www.blogskins.com where they provided free templates and skins to enhance their blog background. That same goes to Multiply as well.
   
   
   
2. Questions asked by newmediascapes.
   
   "Do you have any research done on current trends, besides interviewing your friends (which is also useful way of getting some info)? Any case studies, or examples of online diaries that you find interesting?
   
   Well, the way I research is through blog-hopping to my friends' regular updated blogs. They usually blog about entertainment, social life, work (but not too deep in details), etc.
   
   Online diaries which are interesting and popular among Singaporeans are from the bloggers Dawn's and XiaXues's.
   
   
   
   Is there any change in the way people write when they are online, as compared to when they are writing a hardcopy diary? What do you think?"
   
   Yes, there is a change in the way people write in online diary compared to the traditional ones. To a small extent that is. Language wise, "Singlish" is used in both techniques. However, the expression might be differ. When someone post in her blog, she has to consider of the contents which might hurt other people feelings. Hence, there is not really a freedom there.
   
   However, a person who uses the notebook type, she has the whole freedom to herself and she can basically write anything down- her fears, frustration, etc. All the negatives can be penned down and she will have no worries she has hurt anyone's feelings.
   

I hope I have answered the questions clearly and to the point(:

ONLINE DIARY?

Online Diary, which is popular by the name of "Blogging" has become a great phenomenon in the age of of New Media. Almost everyone, be it a guy or a girl, has their own online diary nowadays.



So what exactly is this online diary?
Well, it is basically a diary on the World-Wide Web (Internet). It has 2 modes, either in public or private. That is decided by the user herself. There are alot of blog hosting websites with individuals unique features and they are:

• Blogspot or Blogger,
• Blogdrive,
• Livejournal,
• Multiply,
• Wordpress,
• Tumblr,
• OnSugar, and also many more.

Why has it becomes the "in" thing right now? Why is it that nowadays, there is a few number of people using the old traditional diary; using pen and paper?

There are a number of reasons as to why this has becomes a great hit.

• Easier and faster to update
  First, there has to be thoughts in mind before the reader can begin. After which, she began to type. Everyone knows that typing is way faster and easier, rather than writing. Besides, the 'Backspace' button is just a click away! (:
  
  
• Friends and relatives have accessed to reading the blog posts and even give a comment
  By having a diary online, and published for public, everyone can comes in to view the blog and they can also comment.
  
  
• Able to upload photos and videos immediately
  Unlilke traditional diary where photos have to be developed before it can be pasted onto the diary, the online diary lets the user to upload the photos straight from the device. This, as a result, save time.
  

Usually, the online diary is created in the first place is due to the reason the user wants to share her life with others. It can be of anything; any topics that the reader would like to share. But of course, sometimes the user has to be aware of the contents in the diary.

Following are the weaknesses of an online diary:

• Have to be careful with what's written on the blog.
  A person will never know what she wrote can be hurtful to other people, be it, friends or strangers. As a result, this can damage the relationship or, be fined. Either way, both bring out a heavy consequences.
  
  To overcome this, there is a reason why there is the private mode. Wordpress, for example, gives its users 3 choices when they create a post- Public, Password Protected, Private. This is quite handy though.
  
  
• Denial of Service (DoS Attack)
  This is to say that the blog hosting website that the user is using is currently unavailable. Hence, this can cause annoyance as the user already has her "blogging mood" or free time but is unable to do so because of this DoS Attack.
  
  
• Arguement
  This occurs when a blog is public, and there are comment box or tagboard (a small message box that is often located at the side bar, for visitors to leave any messages for the blogger) added. For some reasons, the visitors might not agree with what the user has written and they decided to voice out their opinion and hence, arguement may surfaced.
  
  This point may be related to the 1st point.
  

I have approached few of my friends and family members, asking them about their online diary. From there, I gathered their common reasons:

• create an online diary -
  to" share their life with my friends", "easier".
  
  
• most likely to write about -
  "to talk about myself and the ongoings of life", "school", "outgoings",
  "record down my life experiences for reference in the future",
  " to have a channel to let my emotions out"
  
  
• least likely to write about -
  problems relating to relationship, family, friends etc since these are very sensitive.
  

And as for me, I began to have an online diary when I was in Secondary 2. It was a mere fun. I was influenced by a classmate who created an online diary and so I decided to try out. And to this date, I am still using one. It has been an easy mode of communication for me and my friends as well. Since we do not meet regularly, we depend on each other's online diary to keep up with the new happenings of our lives! (: