Letting it Out

There's something refreshing about being able to write your feelings out,
especially when you are stressed. Venting helps. Two of the communities I am exploring allow you to post journal entries (DailyStrength and supportgroups.com, the third is strictly discussion board style). These are much like what LiveJournal or facebook notes allows you to do. People can comment and are encouraged to say how "inspiring," "helping," or "creative" the posts are. I decided to post journal entries on the two sites because it allows the user to express what they are feeling in long form and it is more personal. It is also more private, if desired, because you can allow only your friends to be able to view your journal entries. I haven't gotten any direct responses to my postings yet so I figured this would be a way to engage in the communities further.

I also posted statuses, which are exactly like facebook statuses or Twitter updates (to the right).

LiveWire has the least amount of interaction options. The good thing is that people post on it the most often of the three websites. Users are more likely to contribute to the discussion by answering questions, offering advice, and comforting others.

A post from LiveWire is above.