Journaling Versus Blogging
While journaling shares several characteristics with blogging in general, many bloggers still consider these to be two different activities. A journal, being regarded more like a personal diary, would have little functional resemblance to those blogs that publish gossip about movie stars and sports figures or follow the public record of politicians. Even though the journal is online and others can read it, it tends to be viewed as more private than a regular blog.
One difficulty with definitions stems from the blurring of lines between a personal blog and one obviously geared toward public consumption. Some personal blogs that clearly wouldn't count as journals would be those dealing with books, recipes or pets. There's no denying that personal details of one's life appear in such web-logs, but those simply augment the main topic. Even posts about one's children might be less about family life than about sharing helpful experiences with other parents. One thinks of journaling as something done primarily for one's personal growth. Others might be able to read the entry, but the emphasis is on the writer's self-expression and reflection on their own life.
So blogs used for journaling will require somewhat different elements than those used for more public purposes. Writers will undoubtedly want to keep some blog entries private, so they may prefer to blog at a site like www.livejournal.com or www.wordpress.com, both of which enable private posts. On the other hand, www.blogger.com does not. It does, however, allow a degree of money to be made from blogs while the others don't, yet someone writing a journal may not be interested in making money from their site anyway. Then there is the question of photographs, and whether their host site allows them to be uploaded.
Writing a clearly public blog is not quite the same thing as journaling, and even the types of blog entries will differ between them. Those who write journals might not need an elaborate program, being content with the more simple style of Diaryland, or they might prefer something as elaborate as WordPress. Everything will depend on personal preference. One thing any journal writer will insist upon, though, is that their site, whether one calls it a blog or a journal, is nothing at all like the gossip or political blogs.
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