Barbie is 16, she lives in Gold Coast, a residential middle class neighbourhood in Hong Kong (for more info about her, see previous post 'my world narrow web').
We surfed together on the websites she usually visits and we ended up spending most of the time on www.xanga.com.
Xanga is a community website that she uses every night to share what she did and how she felt during the day with... the schoolmate she spent the day with!
'Sometimes my friends, when they are sad, they don't dare saying it at school, but they will on their xanga blog: it's easier and by doing so, they won't make everybody sad'.
'When I check my friends latest posts I can see how they felt today and if I want I can get in touch with them to discuss on msn'.
We are in a world where technology often brings new social obligations:
- You Shall Be Reachable Anytime, Anywhere
- You Shall Accept All Friends Invitations On Facebook
- You Shall Apologize on Your Email Autoreply When You Go on Holiday That 'you will be travelling to places with minimal internet access'...
Yet this use of blogs to share your intimate feelings with close friends works the other way round: You start the conversation with no precise listener, like sending a message in a bottle so that none of your friend will feel obligated to listen to you or empathize, the choice remains theirs to pick up the thread or not.
Don't make me feel obligated!
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