[lj, psych] The Seven Kinds of Journal Post Topic
Hypothesis: one can classify all journal posts into one or more of the following classes of topic (all examples drawn from my own journal):
"What I did" -- accounts of things one did; Pepys-style diary accounts: Sun, Jan. 6th, 2008, 02:41 am
[me] Update
I've been being (beeing?) a very industrious busy bee for the last few days. Today I fetched the laundry, did the grocery shopping, bought some supplies at the stationer's (including at last some enclosed magazine files) and did a bunch of filing, including setting up my files for this year. Listened to some more of my flood of CDs and gave feedback to the sellers; dealt with (some of) a back log of email and LJ. Had conversation about the Loud TV with the neighbor who is being quite wonderful about it all. Did not quite make it to the hardware store in time (they closed an hour earlier than I thought they did). Even answered a work-related email. [...]
"What I feel" -- current mood reports; venting and talking about emotional pre-occupations. The type of journal entry which made LJ famous; what they're referring to when they joke about having to buy a new server just to index the word "depressed": Tue, Dec. 18th, 2007, 05:16 pm
[me] My Mother's Daughter Or, Queen of the Skunk Tribe
[...] Man, talk about your mixed feelings. Though I don't actually personify my internal objects or dialog between them in words, what's happening in my head might be represented thus:
Me: Hey, inner child! Look! Stripe! Isn't that cool?
Inner child: ...whatever. [...]
"What I think" -- probably the least-typical sort of post on LJ in general, though the typical form for "blogs", and why most of you read my journal: the topic is not the self, but the world (potentially as refracted through the self). Opinions, reporting, research, reviews, insights and observations; in the more polished form, essays and articles. Use of personal anecdote is as rhetorical device (to humanize, to provide a point of departure, or to illustrate) not to be self-revealing of emotions or experiences[*]: Wed, Apr. 2nd, 2008, 04:58 pm
[tech, psych, essay] When your tech tells you something is a Bad Idea
One of the commonest experiences in working with a technical expert is that you have come up with some plan for something you want to do and your technical expert tells you that it -- or some part of it -- is actually a Bad Idea and that you shouldn't do it. [...]
[* However, it is self-revealing of what one thinks, how one thinks, and one's personality and values. It's enormously self-revealing, though not in a way we usually mean by "self-revealing" and it's clear fewer people understand how to decode that information.]
"What I found" -- pointers, quiz memes, jokes, cat macros and art work. Sharing with others things one enjoyed (or found alarming, or important), that one did not make. The original concept for "web logs": Thu, Mar. 20th, 2008, 03:25 am
[psych] Fwd: Depressed caregivers; Punishment and Cooperation
Two articles, both via physorg_med:
Depressed caregivers hostile, not warm, to children [...]
"What I made" -- fiction and art. Perhaps more precisely a subtype of "What I did", insofar as it is a log of "what I took a picture of today", or of "What I found", insofar as it is a presentation of an artifact, or of "What I think", insofar as it is a representation of intellectual work. Fri, Jul. 30th, 2004, 02:48 am
[fable] The True Story of Atlantis
There once was a very great realm called Atlantis, the ultimate sinking of which beneath the sea is a renown tragedy shrouded in the mists of legend. [...]
"What I want to know" -- direct questions, requesting either information or discussions of the topic. Possibly more properly a subtype of coordinative. Thu, Mar. 20th, 2008, 02:21 am
[lit] Veterinary Question, re Cows and Apples
Is there something about eating apples that would make a cow no longer give milk? Perhaps fermented windfall apples?
I'm actually trying to make sense of a literary reference. [...]
Coordinative, includes "I offer" and "I request" -- announcements, requests, offers and invitations. Not discussion of topics. Posts which coordinate action or information between parties: Sun, Apr. 13th, 2008, 10:32 pm
[domesticity] Free egg dyes
I am housekeeping, and in my excavation, I've come across a stash of packets of Surma's Egg Decorating Colors. They must be something like 20 pr 25 years old by now (no exaggeration). I think I got them as a teenager. Some are no doubt half used. I have no idea if they keep. Nine packs. Happy to mail them in continental US. Free to good home.
It's possible for a single post to include more than one of these, of course. For example, if I post a story, then at the bottom ask for specific types of feedback, the post, as a whole, contains both "What I made" content and "What I want to know" content. If I write about something that happened today and how I felt about it, it's both "What I did" and "What I feel".
Testing the hypothesis: So, can anyone come up with any other classifications which are necessary, or does this taxonomy cover all bases? If you really want to play along at home, go back over your last 20 posts and see if there are any you think aren't covered by these categories. Point them out to me (if I can see them) and I'll either explain why and where I think it's covered in the above (I know my descriptions are kinda brief and cryptic) or I'll add a category.
"What I did" -- accounts of things one did; Pepys-style diary accounts: Sun, Jan. 6th, 2008, 02:41 am
[me] Update
I've been being (beeing?) a very industrious busy bee for the last few days. Today I fetched the laundry, did the grocery shopping, bought some supplies at the stationer's (including at last some enclosed magazine files) and did a bunch of filing, including setting up my files for this year. Listened to some more of my flood of CDs and gave feedback to the sellers; dealt with (some of) a back log of email and LJ. Had conversation about the Loud TV with the neighbor who is being quite wonderful about it all. Did not quite make it to the hardware store in time (they closed an hour earlier than I thought they did). Even answered a work-related email. [...]
"What I feel" -- current mood reports; venting and talking about emotional pre-occupations. The type of journal entry which made LJ famous; what they're referring to when they joke about having to buy a new server just to index the word "depressed": Tue, Dec. 18th, 2007, 05:16 pm
[me] My Mother's Daughter Or, Queen of the Skunk Tribe
[...] Man, talk about your mixed feelings. Though I don't actually personify my internal objects or dialog between them in words, what's happening in my head might be represented thus:
Me: Hey, inner child! Look! Stripe! Isn't that cool?
Inner child: ...whatever. [...]
"What I think" -- probably the least-typical sort of post on LJ in general, though the typical form for "blogs", and why most of you read my journal: the topic is not the self, but the world (potentially as refracted through the self). Opinions, reporting, research, reviews, insights and observations; in the more polished form, essays and articles. Use of personal anecdote is as rhetorical device (to humanize, to provide a point of departure, or to illustrate) not to be self-revealing of emotions or experiences[*]: Wed, Apr. 2nd, 2008, 04:58 pm
[tech, psych, essay] When your tech tells you something is a Bad Idea
One of the commonest experiences in working with a technical expert is that you have come up with some plan for something you want to do and your technical expert tells you that it -- or some part of it -- is actually a Bad Idea and that you shouldn't do it. [...]
[* However, it is self-revealing of what one thinks, how one thinks, and one's personality and values. It's enormously self-revealing, though not in a way we usually mean by "self-revealing" and it's clear fewer people understand how to decode that information.]
"What I found" -- pointers, quiz memes, jokes, cat macros and art work. Sharing with others things one enjoyed (or found alarming, or important), that one did not make. The original concept for "web logs": Thu, Mar. 20th, 2008, 03:25 am
[psych] Fwd: Depressed caregivers; Punishment and Cooperation
Two articles, both via physorg_med:
Depressed caregivers hostile, not warm, to children [...]
"What I made" -- fiction and art. Perhaps more precisely a subtype of "What I did", insofar as it is a log of "what I took a picture of today", or of "What I found", insofar as it is a presentation of an artifact, or of "What I think", insofar as it is a representation of intellectual work. Fri, Jul. 30th, 2004, 02:48 am
[fable] The True Story of Atlantis
There once was a very great realm called Atlantis, the ultimate sinking of which beneath the sea is a renown tragedy shrouded in the mists of legend. [...]
"What I want to know" -- direct questions, requesting either information or discussions of the topic. Possibly more properly a subtype of coordinative. Thu, Mar. 20th, 2008, 02:21 am
[lit] Veterinary Question, re Cows and Apples
Is there something about eating apples that would make a cow no longer give milk? Perhaps fermented windfall apples?
I'm actually trying to make sense of a literary reference. [...]
Coordinative, includes "I offer" and "I request" -- announcements, requests, offers and invitations. Not discussion of topics. Posts which coordinate action or information between parties: Sun, Apr. 13th, 2008, 10:32 pm
[domesticity] Free egg dyes
I am housekeeping, and in my excavation, I've come across a stash of packets of Surma's Egg Decorating Colors. They must be something like 20 pr 25 years old by now (no exaggeration). I think I got them as a teenager. Some are no doubt half used. I have no idea if they keep. Nine packs. Happy to mail them in continental US. Free to good home.
It's possible for a single post to include more than one of these, of course. For example, if I post a story, then at the bottom ask for specific types of feedback, the post, as a whole, contains both "What I made" content and "What I want to know" content. If I write about something that happened today and how I felt about it, it's both "What I did" and "What I feel".
Testing the hypothesis: So, can anyone come up with any other classifications which are necessary, or does this taxonomy cover all bases? If you really want to play along at home, go back over your last 20 posts and see if there are any you think aren't covered by these categories. Point them out to me (if I can see them) and I'll either explain why and where I think it's covered in the above (I know my descriptions are kinda brief and cryptic) or I'll add a category.