Sunday, August 22, 2010

To Blog Or Not to Blog, That is the Question

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows from people you don't want reading your blog....

Ok, I took a little liberty with that quote but you get the point.

You are not anonymous on the internet.  In fact, you are not anonymous on my blog.  If you have ever scrolled down to the bottom of my page, you'll notice a "stat counter."  This is a very handy little gaget and you can find out a LOT about the people who are reading your blog....where they logged in from (city and state and country), how long they stayed on, if they clicked on any of your links or read any of your comments among other things....it really is handy.  I can't find out your home address nor who you are for sure, but it doesn't take a lot of deductive skills to figure out some things.

For example, my "troll" I call her, who has posted some, ummm, argumentative comments on my blog before.  Yep, 99.9% sure I know who she is based on where she's logging in from and how she "found" my blog in the first place.  Or, the co-worker who checked my blog while she was on vacation.  Pretty sure sure she was the only one in Mexico checking my blog that week.  Yes, co worker, I know you're reading my blog too. 

So, these things have made me stop and ponder....what I write down and publish here is really out there for the world to find, if they want to.  I mean, I even have a link on my facebook page should anyone do any investigating there.  The question I am asking is: what am I really willing to have available for anyone to read? And, do I care if people I might not want reading my personal stuff read my personal stuff.  I mean, my blogs are pretty darn personal.  Do I really want people who are only casually in my life getting insite into the private inner workings of my heart?  I am just not sure.

Most people who blog have some sort of "theme" they go with: they blog about politics or scrap-booking or movies or...well, you get the picture.  Thus far the "theme" of my blog is, obviously, me.

So, readers....would love your thoughts on this subject and what you think about blogging even though people to whom you might not want to reveal the inner workings of your heart are reading....

Blessings,
Erin

3 comments:

  1. I have not really given any of that thought, so my question is then how do you figure out who is reading your blog? I blog as well, so I might ponder these things as well.

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  2. Jamie, I actually can't figure out who it is a lot of the time. This is especially true if they are logging in from the same city and state as other people. The stat counter gadget is pretty easy to add to your blog, if that's what you're asking. That is what I use.

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  3. I think that you always have to consider that everything on the web is archived - FOREVER. Not just blogs, but FB, etc. also. Because of that, when I blog, I try to be candid, but I try not to reveal my state of mind or incidences that could be confused or misinterpreted by future employers, etc.

    Its a fine line. For me, I always consider would I care if my faculty advisor, boss, pastor, parents read my post. That generally keeps my posts pretty tame. :)

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