There's more to this site than just keeping an online diary or journal.
There are numerous opportunities for people to take advantage of online journaling. Sites offering free software and user friendly interfaces are popping up all the time and, those that have been around for awhile, are making constant improvements. This opens up a whole new world for artists in terms of collaboration and networking.
One site I'd like to focus on is livejournal.com. The ability to do a simple keyword search is available. Here are some examples:
You do need an account to join and participate (and sometimes view) in these communities, but it's free and your information isn't sold to outside parties. I've been a member since 2003 and haven't had an issue with SPAM at all. Once you have your account set up, you're free to join as many communities as you'd like and there's also the opportunity to create your own based on your own specialized interests.
These searches will also produce a list of other members sharing these interests. Putting yourself in touch with a network of other artists is very valuable for many reasons; the number one is keeping you going. There have been countless times when I've wanted to throw in the towel and give up. Receiving the encouragement, reinforcement and inspiration from others has really kept me motivated, though.
Several other excellent journaling sites, like Blogger.com for example, are available, but the ability to create and participate in communities or groups is not available to users. Users can, however, use this site very successfully to create a portfolio.
To some, this community or group option isn't necessary and that's just fine. To others, though, networking is a powerful tool. This can also be accomplished using the ever-popular MySpace.com.
