Flirting with Disaster

When it comes to bloging everyone has certain problems they must deal with every time they put up a post. They must decide what kind of blog they are going to write, how personal they are going to get. Do they care if someone they know were to find their blog and read it? There are as many different bloging styles out there as there are people bloging.

Many people don't get very personal with their posts, choosing to write about their hobbies, put up pictures for the rest of their family to see, etc., allowing many people they know to have their blogs address and share in their life. For them getting very personal is not an issue, because they don't get deeply personal, they don't fear anyone they know finding their posts. They often put up pictures of themselves and will quite often use their real name.

Others tend to get very personal with their blog, using it as a form of diary, and only feeling safe if complete strangers read their posts. These people use fictitious names, never post a picture of themselves and always live in fear that someone they know will find their blog and recognize them. There posts often contain references to their jobs that could get them in trouble at work. We've all heard of the people who have been fired because their boss found and read their blog. Many people who choose to have blogs like this often tell stories of family, friends, lovers and co-workers that would cause them to die of embarrassment if any of the people they wrote about ever read their posts.

The majority of people tend to fall somewhere in between the two extremes. They tend to keep themselves anonymous, sometimes getting personal with their posts and sometimes writing very common stories about the everyday goings on in their lives that even their mother could read. They keep their weblog private for the most part, usually only allowing a few close personal friends to know their secret identity.

One of my favorite blogs "Flirting with Disaster" is no longer part of the blogosphere. The editor, my friend Claire (fictitious name) suddenly and with very little warning pulled her blog down because she was afraid that her cover had been blown. Her blog quite often got very personal, but was written with a flair and style that truly made it a joy to read. She was the kind of writer that could have written about sheep and would have kept you totally enthralled. They certainly would have been the best sheep stories on the web. Before her blog came tumbling down, she fired off one post saying that she thought her anonymity had been blown and she was probably going to take her blog down, it was up for a couple more hours. It's very sad when a blogger has to go to these extremes, and very strange when someone you have been reading about and commenting to, suddenly is no longer there.

I know many bloggers that struggle with keeping the anonymity of their blog and retaining the freedom to write as they choose. They struggle with the choice of having a public blog, taking their chances with their anonymity, or creating a private blog that very few can see, which limits the amount of readers they will get, and friends they will make. We all have to make these choices sooner or later, and they are never very easy choices to make.

"Claire, I hope you will find your way back, and overcome the problems you have encountered. I will miss your writing very much; I will miss you very much. If you find yourself in my neighborhood of the blogosphere, please drop me a comment"...