Ah, the wonderful world of the blogosphere! You love to pour your souls on the pages of your blog. But, are you doing yourself a favor or disservice? Your blog can be seen as your public persona, a representation of your professional self. Blogs nowadays are your reputation so guard it well. If you use the blog for fun, make sure that your posts are not going to compromise your personal or professional life in any way. You often read in the newspaper about Facebook horror stories such as houses broken into, pedophiles befriending children, teens exposing themselves, and employees badmouthing their bosses just to mention a few. Like Facebook, your blog is a double-edged sword. Be mindful of what you say and how you say it. You don’t know who’s reading your blog. When in doubt, remember the Six Degrees of Separation Rule which refers to the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. And with all the
“followers” you have in your wonderful blog, hmm you’d better think twice before you publish the next post. Our private lives should be, well, “private.” Don’t you agree?
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This is such an important point Claudia. Thanks for this post.
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I think we all need to be reminded, especially those of us who use the blog for professional purposes. ;)
Oh I agree and the only people six degrees separated from Clarissa are imaginary. My name is made up. But, I think that I make my blog professional and keep to the subject of writing. I don't get too personal.
ReplyDeleteCD
Hi Clarissa,
ReplyDeleteYou were smart to create a pseudonym for your blog. And yes, your blog is very professional in my opinion. Kudos to you!
Yeah, it's hard to breathe life into a blog without being sometimes willing to throw sharp blows here & there. I try to stay myself as much as I can, but it's the others I give pseudonyms to when I talk about more personal stuff. Unless you get really blunt, if there are no names, there's no harm.
ReplyDeleteBut in general I try and keep real life personal conflicts out of my blog. Thanks for the reminder though. Good point about the Six Degrees Of Separation
My loyal reader, Ben. How are you today?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked my little reminder. I hope it helps other bloggers as well. Cheers!
I completely agree, Claudia. My blog is public and therefore I only talk about my literary adventures and thoughts on publishing there. Nothing about family, work or anything private.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to share, but just be mindful what you are sharing.
Hi Donna,
ReplyDeleteI know. Your blog is funny, quirky, yet related to your literary career. It's good to keep your blog strictly business.
I totally agree. I never post my children's names or photos on social medias. And my blogs are professional, not personal. I cringe sometimes when I read what others are saying about themselves for the whole world to read.
ReplyDeleteYep, totally agree. It's important to remember that once you post something on your blog, you can never take it back. Sure, you can erase it or remove it. But somewhere, someway, someone will be able to find it with some diligent searching. Don't use your professional blog to lash out or express opinions better suited for a private corner in a hole-in-the-wall bar with your best friend since third grade. Or your words will live on in infamy.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
ReplyDeleteSince I'm very familiar with your blog, I know how professional you are. You only post about your book, literary issues and your writing career. Smart way to go!
Hi Anna,
LOL! And even when you say something compromising to your best friend from 3rd grade it'd better not be in written format or she could use it. ;) BTW, congrats on your progress! Keep up the good work!
Claudia, great post! I think alot about this when I write on my life after cancer blog. I try to keep it professional and geared toward my book as well. Its tough sometimes because I tend to always write from my heart. When I get heated up about something I have to reel myself in!
ReplyDeleteOnce it is written it is hard to take back!
You are so right about blog posting!
ReplyDeleteI try to poke fun at myself and let people know who the person is behind the writer. But I try to be careful not too get too personal or say anything to jeopardize my life or anyone else's.
I've had someone hack into my Facebook and spread some unmentionable, vulgar things about me. Even though people knew I didn't write it, it took a long time to clear up the situation and I was forced to cancel my Facebook. Scary world out there sometimes!
Dear Cathy,
ReplyDeleteYour posts are beautiful. You share your paintings, photos, and book, which is a memoir. They're inspirational! Your posts, like you said, come from your heart. :)
Dear Donna,
I'm sorry to hear about your ordeal with Facebook. I'm glad you cancelled your account. It's scary because these hackers can ruin your life. It's also a good idea to monitor your blog to see who leaves you messages and to avoid spam.
Glad to see you blogging again, ;)
Nice reminder. It's an interesting balancing act. And scary about Donna's facebook problems.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my community, Sheila!
ReplyDeleteThanks for leaving a comment and for stopping by.
Cheers!
Totally great! Great points, Claudia.
ReplyDeleteA timely post, considering some of the crimes connected with facebook. I keep facebook private, but as my blog is open to anyone, I guess the most I reveal about myself (and this is not always so) is through my fictional stories..:)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I found your blog. I've become a follower..:)
I try to keep really personal information out of my blog while also providing a glimpse of my personality and writing style. I think once we make a decision to go online, whether it's groups, a blog, website, social media ... we risk being found out no matter what we do. We can keep the more honest people from learning our details, but if someone really wants to find out, they can. It's like locking your door. It keeps the honest people out, but a real thief will break the window.
ReplyDeleteHi Talli,
ReplyDeleteGlad you stopped by again, ;)
Hi L'Aussie,
Welcome to my community! I'm glad to have you as my latest member ;)
I hope you continue enjoying my posts. I'll swing by yours later.
Cheers!
Hi Carol,
You're right about what you said. Once we open the gates to social media there's no turning back, we can only be mindful of what we post. Like you said, we can share a glimpse of who we are without divulging every detail.
Thanks for pointing that out ;)
This is one of the reasons, I closed down a personal blog and started another primarily focused on writing.
ReplyDeleteThe previous blog, I wrote about my journey and tried to enlighten people about late deafened individuals. Which, resonated a little too close to home. People understood what I was trying to convey, but I feared they might see more fear than courage.
In the end, I realized writers are human and we can't always remove that element of ourselves (winks), but as you said, some personal information doesn't necessarily need to be divulged. (Hugs)Indigo
Hi Indigo,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and leaving a message. Sometimes it's hard to convey an inspirational message without including your personal journey. We can't help sharing a bit of ourselves but unfortunately, there are people out there that take advantage of this situations.
Great blog - and good advice.
ReplyDeleteHi Helen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for making it to this side of the pond ;)
Welcome to my community!
My humor comes from my life so it ends up out there but of course, everything doesn't happen quite like it's told. Something said years ago could be stored and brought out when needed. It's the art of adlibbing.
ReplyDelete