[HPforGrownups] Re: CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chamber of Secrets Chapter 17: The Heir of Slytherin

[No Limberger]

No: HPFGUIDX 189258

<Question snip>
> 1. How is the magical diary in CoS like a modern Muggle device that young
> (and not so young) use? Do you think this was intended as a warning?

>No.Limberger wrote:
>I had not previously viewed the magical diary as being similar to any
>electronic device that we have today. When this book was written, there
>were no social networking sites on the Internet and its usage wasn't as
>widespread as it is today.  So, I don't believe that JKR created it to be
>a warning to young people regarding electronic devices or the Internet.

>Potioncat wrote:
>As I read the account in CoS--the whole process of communicating with the
diary
>seemed exactly like IM-img or E-mail. No Limburger has suggested that this
book
>was written before that sort of computer activity was common. I don't know.
But
>does anyone think that a young reader now might see a simalarity between
the two?

No.Limberger responds:
CoS was released in 1998 in the UK, then in 1999 in the US. To get a
perspective on
overall Internet usage, Amazon.com was founded in 1994, eBay in 1995, Yahoo
in 1995,
MySpace in 2003, Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006. Some of the early ISP
providers, such as AOL, CompuServe & Prodigy, were around in the early
1990's,
but there certainly weren't as many people using the Internet then than as
today and
the vast majority of users then were using slow dial-up connections.

When I initially responded to the question, it was with regard to JKR, and
my
opinion remains unchanged: I don't believe that she had any intent to warn
any of her young readers about Internet usage through Tom Riddle's diary in
CoS. Many children (mostly girls) liked to write in diaries; often filling
them
with some of their innermost thoughts & secrets and not wanting anyone
else to read them. Diaries were an outlet. It may be that in today's
Internet-connected world that fewer write in diaries or personal journals,
but if someone genuinely wants to keep something secret, they're likely not
going to write it in an email, blog, Twitter or a social-networking site. If
they
do, then they will quickly realize their mistake.

When Ginny was writing in the diary in CoS, the readers don't know how
long & how much she actually wrote before Tom Riddle made his presence
known in the diary. When Harry had it he had no idea who had been using
it or if anyone had been using it because all of the pages were blank. I see
no similarity between this and writing in an email, instant message, blog
or social networking site. When someone writes in a diary, the intent is
to keep the contents secret; when writing online, that is not the case:
there
is an intended audience. That's not to say that someone may make a
connection between the two, but the purpose of writing in a diary/personal
journal as compared with writing on the Internet are essentially opposite
in my opinion.

-- 
"Why don't you dance with me, I'm not no limberger!"


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