Poshdeluxe

a post from darling ryan from his diaryland about xanga that may provoke discussion:

i have bit of a problem with “xanga”, not because i am enamoured of d-land, but with the manner in which advertising and personal entries are fused into a personal/commercial hybrid. That you can type in what you are currently “listening to” and a link is created that takes you to amazon to purchase that selected recording.

it seems to link the outward construction of self implicit in the keeping of an online journal, with an actual branding or endorsement of a product by that person. that taken to the extreme of logic, the xanga entry constructs a brand identity with that person, linking the person with the means to purchase the cultural object. so not only are you able to read about that person’s life but also to provide yourself with their cultural trappings. textual and cultural construction are fused so that one participates in that person’s life through consumption of idea and product.

it seems suspicious to me. although, it is an extension of all the song and artists business we drop in these diaries, regardless of our choice of venue. so it feeds into the larger problem i have of knowing what really makes me as a person. is it merely cultural objects that i accrue that present something to the world that says “frankohara”? or is there something beyond that that differentiates me from you?

[posh] i will say one thing that is lacking about diaryland is the easy ability to comment and provide feedback… i.e. i wanted to respond to ryan’s post but am not sure how? (is this a cheap shot?)

at any rate, i agree with ryan to some extent (olivia and i have been talking about this too). xanga is obviously powered by a business in search of commercial profit… by using it as a tool for communication, we are supporting these endeavors to some degree. however, we are also using xanga to further our friendships, to share thoughts, to pass on the small or significant beauty that we see everyday… can the two goals be reconciled? probably not. but if you think about it, we don’t “exist” through xanga. each of us is a real person, not an internet persona. in a “real life” friendship, there would be things i would want to absorb from someone, be it their quick wit or their knowledge of indie rock. i guess ryan comes to this conclusion as well when he says “textual and cultural construction are fused so that one participates in that person’s life through consumption of idea and product”.

perhaps the difference lies in the choice of the word “consumer”. we don’t have to be consumers, through xanga or in real life. i would like to think that in a true friendship, people *share* thoughts and feelings rather than consume them. to consume is to use everything up, right? (i’m not english major) wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all learned how to give and take, to give more and take less, with our friends, with the earth…

ok i’ll stop there before this becomes to cliche.