Knowname wrote:??.when they can actually contribute with an actual idea (question) or service (Avatar Music Video) than we can acknowledge them! Sorry to say, but until then you don't really matter

this is how the world works.
This is how the org works. Or this is how I *thought* the org worked and would continue to work. Apparently some people don't like the way the org works and that's why we have this whole section full of ideas on how we can invite non-contributing visitors into the org. Someone here wants them, and wants them badly enough to change the org so they'll come and stay and enjoy.
Anyway, back on topic. You can't introduce yourself to an empty room. If the journals are to serve as a place for people to introduce themselves, those journals must be read. If a newbie posts in their journal and no one is on the main page to see it, does it make an introduction? Of course not. It doesn't even get read because even those who are interested will never know that post was made. You can encourage people not to PM others in response to their journals, you can encourage them not to download vids and review them if they read about those vids in journal entries, you can even push people to make all their journal entries private so they really will be nothing but places to type things that no one will ever read. But that has nothing to do with introductions. You said the journals function as a place for new members to introduce themselves. They could, they might, but only if people can read those journals. At present you can only read a few of them, and then only if you happen to be on the main page at just the right moment to spot them.
Even tossing aside the intro aspect, it would be nice to be able to read journal posts made in the last week or month. It's a way to catch up on the people who are participating (or at least *using*) this website outside the forum. So I'm suggesting it in this thread.
Suggestion: Make a calendar with links to the journal entries made on each date. It should go back at least a week, but a month would be even better. A simple "more.??" link under the "new journal entries" list on the main page wouldn't take up much space.