Not only is the Internet a popular place for young girls to gather and communicate with their friends it is also a place for them to journal, blog and network on issues of interest. This can be observed in many different forms such as; journals referred to as the New Interactive Diary, various Fan sites allowing them to tell their own version of a story (book or movie), and Social network sites where girls can be active by creating personal profiles, searching and adding friends in addition to communicating with one another.
Fan girl communities offer the author to be connected through various groups and communities on subjects that are of interest enabling communication of their particular version or thought. They have the opportunity to modify a story in a way that appeals to them. Some may not like the ending or may want to make changes in general. Therefore on these fan based sites they can make these changes and receive input from others. "FF readers and writers have explained their involvement as fun, interesting, sexually satisfying, or a natural expansion of a love of reading" (2.0 119).
Blogs, are personal journals that have the potential to be read by many. Young girls may post blogs to an unknown audience getting both positive and negative feedback from complete strangers. This blogging community is shared space with shared bonds. Blogs are primarily a text-based, discursive practices shared by a group that constitutes a community (2.0 185). This community creates a sense of identity thus a feeling of worth and a sense of belonging. One girl states that she felt like as long as she had a blog, she had an audience and having an audience made her feel what she was saying was important. Historically it was understood in our culture that girls were to be seen and not heard. Through the Internet and blog sites these girls are given the opportunity to express themselves through a venue with a voice, empowering them to be heard. In the past girls would journal or write in their diaries. However today they tend to perform this online( interactive diary). Many seek IM as a form of a diary, asking questions about topics such as sex and sexuality. Some refer to websites and IM complete strangers seeking the answers. Regardless, some chose to save and refer back to their conversations similar to reading in their diary reflecting on certain conversations.
The Social Network sites give girls an opportunity to not only connect with friends online but also find friends from afar and form new friendships through their existing ones. In the our Internet reading (dana.org) these network sites were described as having four properties; persistence, searchability, exact copyability and invisible audience. These are components that are needed to utilize these sites as opposed to a face to face community. These sites allow an individual to personalize their personal space with various setting options. They can modify these settings when desired at any given time. However some of these network sites have a default setting which would take place based in information that was entered during the making of the profile.
Whatever the intention of the Internet user, and the various ways to communicate. Through live journals blogs, fan fare communities and social network sites, they all allow for individualism and a place to seek a community of acceptance. Girls tend to utilize these venues based on their individual needs but all seem to have one thing in common- a voice to be heard.
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