About notetomyself.net

The concept for this website is really simple. It is an exploration of the way we communicate with ourselves. I find it fascinating that many people keep notebooks where they jot down brilliant ideas for nobody but themselves, and inside these pages are cryptic notes, highly personal associations, diagrams and doodles that are mindboggling and fascinating to look at. I've come across some notes that my friends have written to themselves that I feel look visually interesting enough to frame up on a wall!

Thus, I came up with an idea for a community project in which everyone can contribute their own notes for public display. In addition, each entry has its own comments area for visitors to leave feedback, interpretations, and associations. I think this interactive feature can open up a dialog between our most individualized modes of communication and the one we present to the world.

I hope you enjoy your visit here and come back often!

Disclaimer

The images and text posted on notetomyself.net do not in any way represent the thoughts or beliefs of the creators of notetomyself.net. The creators of notetomyself.net do not accept any responsibility for the content found on notetomyself.net.

Credits

Concept, Design, and Coding: Jimmy Lo

Special thanks to fin, saneesh, and others at clockwatching.net for hosting this site. Also, thanks to jerri for the wonderful color scheme ideas.

A Little Rant

I've been scouring the web for a certain type of site that I really enjoy. They are kind of like show-and-tell sites, in that they invite users to share and engage in meaningful conversation. PostSecret and Derek's Walmart Receipts, for example, are highly personal (and quirky) visions of community that inspire me. Unfortunately, I feel that there are not enough of these sites out there. For all my searching, I've only come up with a handful of links.

Where are these sites? The web being the democratic medium that it is promises enormous potential to be a community building space. However, what we have is oftentimes lacking. Sure we have the myspaces and friendsters, but what kind of interaction do these sites encourage with their banner ads and sound clips around every corner? I can't even go to most myspace pages without getting a headache. How can meaningful dialog come out of that?

What we need are more sites that embrace the full potential of this new medium. Instead of allowing it to dwindle into a dumbed-down TV-like paradigm of short attention span conversations, we need to make more websites that encourage just the opposite: meaningful, unique dialog. Afterall, the potential of the web is that it can connect people from across the globe, but how often does that actually happen?

If you know of any sites like this, please let me know so I can add it to my links page. If you are a web developer, I encourage you to think about making a website with a highly personal positive community building touch, as I have described. And if you are not a web developer, but have an amazing idea for a website, please don't hesitate to contact me. If I like your idea, I might help you code it!

Contact

jimmylorunning (at) gmail.com

note:Please include "notetomyself" somewhere in the subjectline. I get a lot of spam and doing this will help ensure that your message will not be overlooked as such.