At first glance it would seem that a blog site like LiveJournal.com would have little to do with matchmaking. Blogging and Journaling originated as ways of communicating both with oneself and the outside world about what the blogger thought. It was the connected generation’s new tool for self expression, the electronic diary and soap box combined. It allowed the individual to tell the world what was going on inside one’s own mind; what that person thought about music, politics, art, their life. It allowed Everyman to become a commentator on today’s world, or, at least, specific parts of it. To the outsider it was the ultimate expression of the Me Generation.


The blogosphere quickly adopted feed back mechanisms. The hyperlink allowed people to respond to what other people were thinking in their own blogs and journals. Blogs quickly became multi-channel communication mediums that could be world wide in scope. As the linked interpersonal communications expanded on the internet, the newer social sites, like LiveJournal, became more than just blog sites, they became little virtual communities where like minded people could join together and interact. They became more than just communication sites, they became societies.


In the various societies on LiveJournal, as in any human society, there have always matchmakers. Matchmakers are people that feel the drive to connect people, to bring people together to form friendships and lasting relationships. While some people might call it meddling in the lives of others, it is usually done from the best of motives, trying to bring friendship and connections to others. They see it as a higher calling, a service to society, or at least the small parts of it that they touch.


In social networking sites like LiveJournal the matchmaker is usually a member of a number of different groups. They are always on the look out for unconnected people in separated groups that have something in common. When they find two such people they are usually invited to join the matchmaker’s group. There the discussions are manipulated by the matchmaker to allow the two strangers to see how much they have in common; to allow the idea connection to be made between the two people.


As the two former strangers continue to communicate they begin to form a linkage that extends well beyond the electronic connection that they had on LiveJournal. They begin to make the connection between ideas and personalities that are the basis of any real friendship. The only difference between friendships formed at a school, work place or social event and those formed online, is that the online relationship is usually unaffected by physical appearance in the early stages.


Finally, when the bonds of true friendship are made between the former strangers, the matchmaker’s self-imposed job is completed. They have brought two people together, allowing them to make the psychic connection of friend ship through the electronic LiveJournal connection.


LiveJournal and other networking sites along with their associated matchmakers serve a very important function in today’s electronic society. They help bring personal connections to people separated by time and space. They help to provide communities that transcend the normal borders of human existence.