After the television show, Inside Edition, telephoned me for comment about the David G. Ludwig and Kara Beth Borden story, I decided to delve into it a bit deeper. Apparently Ludwig might be the suspect who allegedly killed Kara Beth Borden’s parents, Michael F. and Cathryn Lee Borden, early Sunday after they and their daughter argued about her curfew. The shootings took place at the family’s home in Warwick Township, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia.

So here’s the CNN story on the latest.

Far more interesting to me, however, are the kids’ blogs:

Ludwig’s:
http://www.xanga.com/Haydren
http://www.myspace.com/haydren
Ludwig Photos

Borden’s:
http://www.xanga.com/karebear000
http://www.myspace.com/meantxtoxlive

Wow, you never would’ve thought these normal-looking folks (normal for online, anyway) would be involved in something like this in the middle of Pennsylvania Amish country. What a world!

So Inside Edition was calling because these teens happened to keep blogs, so there’s this “blog angle” to the story. I’m not sure I “get it,” but I do get that nowadays, most teens probably have a blog or website they visit and write on regularly. It’s funny how the media will focus on one small aspect of a person’s life and turn that in a sub-plot of some sort. I imagined if they had hung out at McDonald’s everyday and ate their french fries, they would’ve found a way to implicate McDonald’s as well.

Why do people do things that seem to make no sense? (That’s a self-answering question.) Why do teens use blogs to communicate with one another and to express their feelings? Because it’s as normal and natural as picking up the phone is to the rest of us. It is what the next generation uses as a simple outlet for their needs.

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 14 Nov 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.