Trying On Different Faces

Joanne McNeil considers the timelessness of Livejournal:

Without looking at the time stamp of some posts on that site, there’s no way to discern what year, what decade this is. So long as precocious teenagers discover things like Valerie and Her Week of Wonders and the Velvet Underground, there will be blogs like this.

She argues that anonymity is an important aspect of the platform:

It’s the same reason I blogged anonymously as a teenager, and still sometimes post in forums under fake names. Nineteen is a tender age, one is in constant discovery mode. Trying on different faces, making friends that might not feel right, figuring out the core of one’s identity. I took comfort in anonymity. Anyone who does not see the value in these communities misses out on a pretty essential experience.

2006-2011 archives for The Daily Dish, featuring Andrew Sullivan