LiveJournal

I remember when Livejournal began, and so I'm really quite surprised to see that it's still here after all these years. It predates blogging, though the concept is similar, and it has much more of a focus as a site for interest groups and the like-minded than blogging communities in which every blogger does their own thing independently.

Journalling isn't that different from blogging, though a journal is a personal diary by definition, and while a blog may also serve that function many bloggers use theirs to address the public on much broader issues. Livejournal permits both, but has its roots in more personal outpourings. Along with the other venues of its day, notably Tripod and Angelfire, it found itself catering for teenage angst and provided more in the way of safety in numbers than later blogging sites would do.

From my fairly brief look around, after discovering that the site was still very much thriving after more than ten years, it doesn't look so different now than it did then. It's still very much group-oriented, and it seems that a fair few of them are regularly updated.

There is a two-tier structure to the site, with basic free accounts that supply enough features for the average user, and paid premium accounts that offer better presentation, more content options, more photos and so forth. It's usually a good idea to experiment with a free account first, and see how you get along with people around you.

Additionally, you have the choice to allow visitors to comment in your journal, and you can choose which, if any, entries you want to remain private on a per-entry basis.

For newcomers, the site offers ways to find communities and members who might interest you and even a random choice button that picks a journal out of the digital hat if you don't know what to look at first. The one I got was in Russian, showing that Livejournal has expanded far from its American roots. All well worth a look around, if you're seeking something a bit different and more social than Blogger.

BTW the automatic tagging thingy here at SJ categorizes this site as "celebrity gossip", which it isn't.