I have been writing this blog for a few months now and following other peoples blogs for longer but I still find it difficult to decide how much personal information to include. Any readers who know me in real life or even have an email friendship with me will know that there is a lot that I don't put into this public domain, mainly out of respect for the privacy of my family and friends. Then again, is putting personal information on a blog read by a tiny number of people each day any worse than offloading on a members-only forum which could potentially have hundreds or even thousands of members?
As a reader, I find those blogs which offer slices of the writer's life, such as petite anglaise, the most entertaining to read. But how vulnerable does even an anonymous blogger become when sharing intimate details and thoughts with other bloggers they have probably never met except online? Does the blogging world (and that of sites like MySpace) encourage false expectations of friendship and loyalty? How much of what is written on blogs is embellished or fictional and does it matter?
The more blogs I read, the less I know the answer.
5 comments:
I know what you mean Cathy. On my blog, although I will talk about general things that happen, I don't get too personal.
Sometimes I even think about taking down the whole blog.
I may talk about emotions from my point of view but usually things I know others may relate to.
I never mention names of people in my family or personal details.
Sometimes, it doesn't matter if what you are reading is not true, as long as you are not expecting to get important answers from them. Unless of course it's a dedicated subject.
I like to read other blogs,usually to know how other people think,to learn and hopefully for a laugh, like Anne's blog.
The other thing to do is create a psuedonym and don't tell anyone about it, so it's completely anonymous!
Hi Sue
I did think about blogging anonymously, but then of course even anonymous bloggers can get unmasked if their blog becomes very popular (petite anglaise being a good example). Not that my blog would ever become popular like that,of course!
Writing about this was triggered by something I read yesterday on a couple of blogs...I won't go into details, but it made me think a bit.
Yes, Anne's blog is a must read, isn't it? She is even brave enough to use her full name!
I have people who give me articles that prefer to stay anonymous and you'll notice no name against them.
The reason I started the teafriends blog is that ultimately it will be a fully fledged website and my ramblings are really a filler until I get it up and running.
Sometimes though I find it useful to get things into perspective when I've written something. Even the little things.
By the way did you get the reply from me via myspace? I sent a reply and then for some reason I deleted half of my inbox messages.
Sue x
Yes, blogs are the new personal diary, aren't they? I think for me it's a way of being honest about stuff (and hopefully seeing the humour of it too) in a way which I'm not sure I can always do in "real life".
By that, I mean that I think I'm more "me" when I write than when I'm attempting to be me in the world - oh lord, that's really psychotic, isn't it??!!! Good job I'm seeing the counsellor today, eh? - that is, if I can reach her in all this snow ...
==:O
A
xxx
Sue - yes I did get your email, thanks. Sorry I haven't had time to get back to you yet, will do so soon!
Anne - don't ever change your blog, it is so entertaining. But yes, maybe you should discuss it with the counsellor :))
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