The wonder that is Open Diary

I’ve been made fun of by my friends in the real world for having an account with Open Diary. They catch a glimpse of it and laugh and ask "What on earth site is that? Haha are you journalling in the stone age? Is that Xanga?"

I never say anything much more than, "Oh it’s nothing," before promptly closing out the site because there is, I think, only one person I know IRL who even knows I have a journal here, and he started his own back when I’d only been a member for two years. He hasn’t visited his diary in ages and ages, even when I reminded him of it.

I know it’s a really out of date site. There’s nothing flashy about OD. It doesn’t get constant updates like Facebook, it’s not going to get any revamp like what MySpace is going through right now. It’s not cutting edge. It’s actually very old looking and simplistic.

That isn’t the point.

The point is, I’m 27 years old and I’ve been writing here since I was 14. The point is, even though I may not regluarly update and I may slack horribly in keeping up with notes, there are people on my Friends List here at OD that I have known for longer than I’ve known most of the people I see on a regular basis in real life.

They are my friends. As much as the word ‘friend’ can apply to people I’ve never laid eyes on or spoken to. I don’t know the sound of their voices. I dont’ know where their houses are and I’ve never grabbed coffee with any of them, but they’re my friends. It’s like reading an ongoing book. I can relate to them and I feel sad when they are sad and I get angry or upset when they write about things that have gone wrong during their day. I get offended if I hear they’re mistreated or hurt or betrayed. That’s what the digital age has done to humanity. We can make connections from thousands of miles away and in ways that would never have been possible twenty years ago.

Having friends that you know exclusively because of the internet is normal now. And for people like me who like to write about their lives and like seeing that entry count and knowing we could go back at any time and read up on the person we used to be, OD is the ideal place. It’s not a pretty site, but it has an extremely loyal following of people from all walks of life and I’m happy I’m a part of that. OD was my first real internet home and I am very attached to it.

Just saying. I love you all. I’m glad you’re here. I’m not great at keeping up with your entries and sometimes I don’t note for ages, but my life is better for knowing you, even if we never actually meet for as long as we live.