Sometimes I have trouble with setting up boundaries in my life. I think I've done a pretty good job with this blog. There are times when I want to blab about every little detail of my personal life on here, but I mostly realize that isn't a good idea for many reasons. First, for the people who don't know me. I mean, I guess it doesn't really matter if some stranger knows the knitty-gritty if I'm never going to meet them, but it creeps me out to know that some NN (as they say in Spanish) would know everything about me. Secondly, for the people close to me that read this blog, because I could be writing about them. I try to maintain confidentiality as much as possible, but obviously if the person knows the situation they're going to know I'm talking about them, and then there might be hurt feelings and there's nothing I hate more than hurt feelings, be it my own or someone else's.
How do you all manage what to write and what not to write on your blog? Do you bare all? I think of bloggers like Dooce and can't imagine writing everything that she does. But she's probably the most successful blogger out there and maybe that's why she's had so much success, because she just tells everything. On the other hand, she does have a lot of enemies and I'm sure her family gets angry about what she writes. I wonder what her kids will think when they get older.
Anyway, I guess I'm trying to find a balance. It's hard because sometimes I just want to blog about something but I can't. Maybe I should start keeping a personal journal. What a concept!
8 comments:
I don't have the answer, but I think about this a lot too. Hmmmm. Though your blog is personal, I have never thought any of your posts were overly personal though...
haha, it looks like I was reading your post as you were reading mine. I just got your comment.
I was wondering about this myself so I'm glad that you wrote about this. My first experience blogging was last summer and since it was a school related trip I kept it all super PC since I knew faculty, students, parents, anyone at my school could be reading it. I think back to all of the funny stories and things that happened and how much more entertaining my posts would have been if I would have been able to speak freely about my colleagues, roomates, etc.
One of my colleagues actually wrote on her own blog about a frustrating day that we had with one of our "chaperones" and he read it and confronted her about it!
I'm facing the same challenge now. I really want to write freely about my upcoming experiences in Chile, but I am really unsure about how to approach it. Where is the line?!?
Annje: Yep! Haha.
Heather: Yeah, it's especially hard when I think about if one of my students comes across this blog. I definitely wouldn't want them reading anything too personal! I think if it's a blog that is any way work related, it has to be very non-personal, especially when you're dealing with kids.
I guess I have never thought about this before. I have learned to never ever write anything about work or people I work with. But other than that I guess I keep my blog PG-13. And of course don't write anything I don't want my family to read. It doesn't really bother me that people that I don't know have access to knowing a lot of stuff about me. Just do what you feel is comfortable. If you want to keep a journal online just get an open diary account people can still read it, but if you don't tell people about it and never put your name on it its anonymous.
Great topic. I struggle with this too, because there are times when feel like getting specific about my job or about the people in my life would make for a much more interesting entry. In my case, though, being cryptic is a necessity and not a choice, since I actually have a borderline internet stalker (dormant at the moment, thank goodness!). I don't want to give this person and others with similar plans any more tools. Sometimes I'm shocked by how much personal info people publish about themselves on the internet (home addresses, etc.) and hope they realize how much of a risk they're putting themselves at.
Shannon: Haha yeah I try to keep it PG-13 too!! Although it would be fun to write about some R-rated moments. I think I will start a diary, but maybe the real kind, as in pen and paper. So old school!
Leigh: Oh, internet stalkers are no fun. I haven't had any of those (that I know of) but I try really hard to not publish any contact info except my email.
I started Just Married Chilean Style because I wanted to be able to write completely anonymously after a really horrible experience with my first blog. I kept it quiet for about 6 months, but it started to grow and I realized that people were eventually going to find out about it so I told my friends and family. And now I post updates on Facebook and everything. I write pretty much anything that comes to mind. The only thing I draw the line at is posting information that can hurt or upset other people.
Post a Comment