“Since graduating in May, I feel like I’m finally entering the adult world” says 22-year-old, ex-student Frank McGraffen. Last Saturday, after a trip to the electronic store with his parents, he picked up a second flat-screen monitor as well as a number of blank CDs and DVDs. “I was looking into buying a few new DVDs….

but my budget was already exceeded. The blank discs rounded out the number”.

The young man is a recent graduate of sociology from the University of Colleges. This purchase, he says, is central to the next steps towards his career. “I’ve been developing a number of different projects, and I hope to launch my personal blog in a few weeks. It tracks my development to adulthood. I hope to apply both my scientific sociological knowledge as well as personal tidbits to spice it up”. McGraffen sees this radical self-as-study-group approach a fresh take of the weblog format. Although many bloggers write about their personal lives, none, McGraffen says, “approach it with the scientific vigour” required for “legitimate reflection”.

The recent addition of a second screen is part of the move towards professionalisation and adulthood. McGraffen reflects “I find a second screen critical for this move – it’s amazing the different layout adjustments and typos you can catch with just a slightly different perspective”. While he acknowledges that some other web authors do with only one screen, McGraffen hopes this separates him from the rest. “It’s like two people reading the same text, instead of one”.

Mother of the ex-student, Nancy McGraffen is concerned that her son is becoming “too serious” about his work too soon. “I hope he has some time to live a little after his strenuous school years”.

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