ReadMe

Strangers in a Strange Land
Weblogs enable students adrift in the big city to create communities (if only virtual ones) online.

by Meeta Shah

www.lp.org

There's a reason the phrase "a New York Minute" exists; the city is known for its fast-paced lifestyle. Sigmund Freud coined the phrase "the fifty-minute hour," advising therapists to reserve ten minutes to cool down after each session and prepare for the next patient. Freud may not have heard of the New York minute when he came up with the concept, but Amy Phillips' web-based commentary, or weblog, The Fifty Minute Hour appropriates Freud's phrase, applying it to the realization that New Yorkers live in a fast-paced city, where reflection is often necessary.

The New York University senior uses her blog as a means of self-expression. It's her tool to reflect on various issues, ranging from Florida Governor Jeb Bush's daughter Noelle Bush's substance-abuse problem to the effects of racial diversity on college campuses. Phillips's blog also enables her to take stock of the opinions of those around her.

"I have always loved to write and talk about political topics," she says. "Blogs make it easy for me to do this and get my point across to my readers. There's no filtering system involved so my friends and I, and whoever else comes across the site, can communicate freely." Phillips is a self-proclaimed libertarian, which she defines, via a link to another site, as someone who believes "everyone should be free to do as they choose, so long as they don't infringe upon the equal freedom of others."

Blogs provide just the sort of freedom students at NYU yearn for according to Mireya Lucio, a junior in NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. "There is a disintegration within the schools at NYU. With no defined campus, it's hard for students to find a place to discuss whatever is on their minds," she says.

Sarah Huang would agree; her blog All About NYU deals with prospective students' questions about the school. It is not associated with NYU or its administration, as its disclaimer announces. Huang says the large size of NYU is both a pro and a con: it affords the "considerable privacy that's associated with anonymity," she writes, "but not a lot of intimate contact unless you really look for it."

Directory of Libertarian Sites

According to Xap.com, a reference source for prospective college students, only 5% of NYU students participate in intercollegiate sports, 6% of women are in sororities and 7% of men are in fraternities, and half the student population lives off-campus. An open forum for discussing ideas could be helpful for students, especially those not living in the dorms and not participating in other social activities.

For these students, blogs, whether specifically about NYU like Huang's, or about different topics but made by NYU students, such as Phillips's, are a place where NYU students can find the sense of community they are looking for.

Related Links

NYU's DailyJolt

A Libertarian's website

A Directory of NYU blogs

An NYU student's blog

Meeta Shah is a junior at NYU, pursuing a double major in economics and journalism.

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