BYU NewsNet - Web Site Presents Future of Journal Writing

With the recent trend of moving business to the Internet, it is now possible to do banking, shopping and social networking on the Web. Now, thanks to a couple of BYU students, people can keep their personal journals online with the Web site Pyxlin'.

Cousins Jeff Harmon, a senior in business marketing, and Benton Crane, a senior in economics, created the Web site because they felt guilty and frustrated after falling behind on their mission journals.

"Keeping a journal is one of those things you know you should do, but doesn't always get done," Crane said.

Crane and Harmon said they were having trouble keeping up with handwritten journals because it would take too long to write, they were nervous about leaving their journals in public places and they did not have their journals when they wanted to write something down.

At first Crane and Harmon kept their journals online using MemoryPress, a Web site used to make family history books, then Neal Harmon, Jeff Harmon's, brother suggested they create a Web site for journal keeping.

Harmon and Crane, who founded Pyxlin' in 2002, focused their early advertising efforts on Education Week and word of mouth. The product is now sold in the BYU bookstore, and is also advertised on Facebook, Google and the Pyxlin' Web site. Prices to use the software are $4 per month or if paid by the year only $1.67 per month.

"The product sells its self once people see it because they realize it solves the problem [of keeping a handwritten journal]," Jeff Harmon said.

Avid BYU journal writer Heidi Barnhart switched from her handwritten journal to Pyxlin' for a couple of reasons.

"I always have my computer with me and my hand writing isn't always legible," Barnhart said. "Plus I've lost a journal before and it is very disappointing."

Pyxlin' conducted a worldwide survey through Question Pro.com, an online survey software, and concluded through their results that 37 percent of people who have keep a journal have lost it in some way. Through Pyxlin' one can reach their journal through any Internet connection; the journal entries are password protected and stored on servers, the same servers that Amazon.com uses. Journals online make it easy to add photos in various layouts and edit entries at any time. If a person wants a hard copy of their journal, printing is simple and turns out a professional-looking product.