Tonight I got distracted reading a few of the 373 entries from my old Live Journal that I created back in 2004.

Live Journal. Yeah, remember that? (If you weren't blogging in the mid 2000's, or if you're not a part of "Generation X", you probably don't have a CLUE as to what I'm talking about!) The creepy little tool bar at the top of the site (the one featuring good 'ole Frank the goat) happily informed me that LJ is 10 years old this year. That's crazy. TEN years old? It seems like just yesterday I would turn to Live Journal for all of my high school theatre gossip! I had to remind myself that this social networking site was created before Twitter, Linked In, Facebook, Youtube, and yes, even MySpace! It's amazing how ALL of my high school friends turned to this site for blogging and social comfort.

Today LJ is rarely known by anyone- unless you were apart of the fad in the early 2000's. Two or three times a year I log on, just to see if any of my old friends keep up with their old accounts, and there are maybe five loyal users left (out of what started with over 100). Is this where Myspace, and maybe even someday Facebook are heading??

Who knows! Looking at the new media that has developed since the LJ faux pas makes ME even feel old!

After laughing over old memories and poking around google, I found a nifty tool that claimed it would import all of my 373 entries to my personal Blogspot blog!

At first I was nerdily excited, and the OCD girl in me was screaming to combine all of my entries to one place, but as I went back to scan additional memories and adventures that go back to my junior year of HIGH SCHOOL, I quickly realized the mistake I was about to make.

Um, no. I am so not going there! As hysterical as half the entries are, and as fun as it is to observe my own changes in writing style, I realized I would be completely nuts to re-post the drama, love stories, ups, downs, and life lessons learned in my adolescent past. (Mind you, during those years my LJ was "friends only" so yes, I was candidly honest and openly trusting- something a naive high school teen should never be on the internet.)

Some things, really should stay in the past. Luckily for me, even at 16, I was overly mature for my age, and even though some of my stories are completely embarrassing now, none of my posts were dangerous or inappropriate. Today, social networking is more popular, easy-access, and therefore, more threatening. High school, junior high, and even elementary aged kiddos not only have the opportunity to embarrass themselves via Facebook "blogging" or instant status updates- today's generation can ruin their lives with pictures and video.

I could go off on a tangent about all of this, but internet safety and common sense is not the point of this blog. My main question is this: social media changes SO fast; what do you think will survive over the next few years, and what will deteriorate to today's "LJ"? Where will Blogger be in 10 years? Wordpress? MySpace, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Linked In, etc? Will this blog that I am updating right this instant be obsolete?

Only the future knows, but I think it's exciting to find out- which is why I love my chosen field of mass communication! Who says new media isn't interesting?