Comments on: How Open Are You on Your Blog?

By: PJ Mullen

PJ Mullen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 19:43:23 +0000

“Truth is, people will always find a reason to hate that which they fear, don’t understand, or secretly loathe within themselves.”

This says it all. You can’t care what someone might hate, because they might be predisposed to hate everything they don’t understand anyway. I’m very open on my blog – my life, how I feel I failed in my professional career, what I think I’m good at and what I think I’m bad at. Those that can relate are the ones I hope to reach. Anyone else can just stop reading my blog.

The only thing I don’t ever write about is my wife in a negative light. We all have the occasional flare ups in our relationships, but as some will say what happens in Vegas stays on Facebook. What I’m mad about today will be a distant memory tomorrow. I see no use in memorializing the negative things in my relationship with my wife when they arise. But anything else is pretty much open season.

By: Hayden Tompkins

Hayden Tompkins — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 08:40:05 +0000

While I often discuss my marriage, I don't really share much about my husband (other than the really general stuff). Just because I've decided to write about extremely personal experiences, doesn't mean he ever made that choice. .-= Hayden Tompkins´s last blog ..The Awesome Post of Awesome =-.

By: Square Peg Guy

Square Peg Guy — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:53:55 +0000

I’ve deluded myself into thinking my blog is perfectly anonymous and that no one will ever find out who I am. In reality, I know that it wouldn’t be too hard at all to trace the IP address from which I post and locate me. So I certainly won’t post anything that violates Blogspot’s Terms of Service. But I don’t mind writing about such things as “erectile dysfunction” or “man boobs.” Hypothetically, of course.

Anyway, I’m open to embarrassment, but not harassment.
.-= Square Peg Guy´s last blog ..Good-Bye, Lucy =-.

By: Davied

Davied — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:32:20 +0000

I find the easier solution is if I’m blogging about a friend or family member, I just add an “e” into the middle of their name somewhere. And voila, privacy, upheld!

That way my wife Jennifeer doesn’t mind is I spill all of our deep dark secrets. (I won’t disclose her real name)
.-= Davied´s last blog ..FREE REFILLS =-.

By: Kyddryn

Kyddryn — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:27:47 +0000

There’s always someone who will poke the hurty place, try to deepen the wound. That someone is usually small in spirit and seeking to aggrandize themselves.

The way I see it, if I connect with one person…just ONE…give them a light, help them see a way through what they’re suffereing/enduring/experiencing…if I can show them the humor or the survivability of our common situation…if I can give even one person a little look into what their loved-one may be thinking/feeling or put a smile on their face…well, it’s worth the potential trolls and misery-mongers.

Shade and Sweetwater,
K
.-= Kyddryn´s last blog ..Word(s) =-.

By: Heather @critter chronicles

Heather @critter chronicles — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:32:43 +0000

My blog is our family’s blog, and while for me it’s a way of recording our family history, I do sometimes get into the really personal side of things. But there are also issues that deal with our family that I NEVER discuss. Like the fact that I had a falling out with my mother-in-law before we moved overseas and didn’t speak to her for a year (which is a huge deal, considering she still Skype-d with the rest of my family every week). But not once did I mention anything of the sort on my blog, because like you said, I don’t write to point fingers at the people in my life. Unless it’s to make fun of my kids, but that’s my prerogative as their mother. Plus they can’t read yet.
.-= Heather @critter chronicles´s last blog ..It’s All About How You Word It =-.

By: Tara@Sticky Fingers

Tara@Sticky Fingers — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:31:02 +0000

I have to agree with Elmot (hi Elmot) every individual blogger will have different ‘lines’. I have read some blogs and thought ‘woh that’s a bit close to the bone’ but clearly they are comfortable writing about those things.
I have a line. I not only don’t cross it, I don’t go near it just to be sure.
.-= Tara@Sticky Fingers´s last blog ..Can you make real friends through blogging? =-.

By: elmot

elmot — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:45:44 +0000

This is a difficult thing to answer, but at the end of the day only the blogger can answer this one. Sometimes it is indeed difficult to open fearing that maybe I would throwing my pearls to the swine.

For me, I always think of the fact that if I open up myself to people, there will always be people out there who will it on a different light…then if one has chosen to open up his windows, be ready also to face those who will bug you.

Therefore, just open up and share what you can only afford to lose.
.-= elmot´s last blog ..Noynoy Aquino, People Power III and Coffee =-.

By: Orchid64

Orchid64 — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:26:51 +0000

This may sound cynical, but the line between private and public is usually drawn at where money can be made. People reveal themselves more if they think they’ll profit from such exposure. There’s nothing better for selling a book than making enough people hate you to draw attention to yourself.

This is the result of living in an age where talent (of any sort, including writing) comes a distant third to public humiliation and fame as a point of interest to people. People don’t care how well you can say something. They care about how good they feel about themselves after reading your intimate details. The more embarrassing the information, the more superior they feel so you get a lot more mileage if you’re despised (explains Paris Hilton, doesn’t it?).

I used to be very open on my blogs, and with each successive new blog (I’m on two which are not personal now), I’ve dialed down the exposure. The problem isn’t that people necessarily will use it against you (though they will), but rather that I wasn’t getting anything but grief in repayment. If it sold books, I’d probably lay it all out there. Also, frankly, people want to be mad and will go out of their way to willfully misinterpret what you say to help them work up some feelings.

The more intimate your revelations, the more deeply they can attack you. They love this. And the bottom line is that it has absolutely nothing to do with the real you or what you really said. It has to do with a need in many people to find someone to kick around so they can feel better. Beating up on people anonymously on the internet has replaced the classic “kick the dog” because you’re frustrated behavior of the past.

By: jan geronimo

jan geronimo — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:21:53 +0000

That's a hard question to answer. I deal with this concern from time to time myself, knowing there are really haters out there. Lots of things I keep from the public view, but I occasionally test the waters. What good is blogging as a form of self-expression if one lives in fear of ridicule and nasty criticisms, right? .-= jan geronimo´s last blog ..Giving Good Loving To My Top Follow Friday People =-.