The leftward and other blatherings of Span (now with Snaps!)

Friday, January 07, 2005

the secret life of Whiggy

The Whig has responded to my post that mentioned my view that he blogs too much of his personal life.

I don't really mean that as absolutely as it sounds - I meant that I would find that level of disclosure, in a situation where people know who I am and many readers know me personally, incredibly uncomfortable. I just couldn't do it. Part of me admires his bravery, but another part, by far the bigger, worries he is leaving himself incredibly vulnerable. Whig blogs that he is happy with that, and there the matter rests - it's his blog he can do what he wants.

But I do have a very unhappy memory from when I hurt someone badly because I thought that only people currently in my life would read my internet jottings. This was in a previous web incarnation, and the person read into my words things that were never meant - they stuffed all the baggage between us into the gaps until the meaning was quite different from what was intended. This reaction was entirely predictable and understandable, albeit a bit extreme. Ultimately quite a bit of pain was created because I was careless and didn't really think beyond the audience that existed in my head.

Be careful out there fellow bloggers - anyone could be reading...

2 comments:

Amanda said...

I agree completely...if you put it out in public anyone at all can read it- neighbours, people you were at primary school with, friends of your parents, co-workers, students (if you are a teacher of any sort) and also EMPLOYERS. Too many people do not seem aware of that people can do lose their jobs because of their blogs (the expression is dooced).

People should also be thinking about the future- you may not currently mind all the details of current crappy job, how little work you do, and how you turn up hung over etc being out there but remember you might not want people reading that in five years time

And the other thing to think about is the privacy of other people concerned. I once (at least not under my own name) published a whole lot of detail about a disagreement with my mother. Fortunatly she never knew but in retrospect it was totally unfair on my part. She didn't get to put her side or have any choice about whether or not I made something between us available for comment to any passing stranger

Rant over.

Span said...

to be honest i hadn't even considered employers! eeeek!