Public vs. Private
I’ve been debating a lot lately how much information I share publicly, vs the things we should be keeping private. Kassy definitely takes a much more cautious approach to online information sharing. Ever since I had an old college buddy track me down via this very blog, I’ve definitely given a lot of thought to how much information I post here. On top of all of this, I’m starting to take a much more public role at church, and so now I’m weighing everything out before we get too far along and I regret some early decisions I’ve made. One of the biggest questions surrounds just how much information I post about the kiddos. I have friends who use pseudonyms for their kids, and it’s something I’ve considered in the past. I’m not even sure what the questions to ask, and what I would change if I could, but it’s something to think about.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:33 am
Hi RC – congratulations on the new role at your church. Sounds exciting!
I think public v private is basically answered if you know the purpose of your blog.
The precautions I take are: my surname is nowhere on my site or blog email, I do not identify my location too specifically, including obvious local landmarks, and two of my children’s names are unique, so I have modified them on my blog. I also do not add information that might at some point have a negative impact on the employability of anyone in my family (e.g. at one point I had a health problem that could have been serious, and I didn’t speculate about it on my blog).
That said, my aim is to be real. In a small way I feel that I’m ministering to others (beyond the grandparents’ insatiable desire for pictures), and I feel that requires depth and honesty.
May God grant you wisdom as you find the right balance for you and your blog.
February 2nd, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Thanks E.
I’ll definitely be blogging more about what’s going on at our church as we get rolling.
February 5th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Yep. That it is… something to think about. As always, my thought is better safe than sorry when it comes to names and location.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Ive been thinking a lot about this too as I start dusting off my own blog. I went through and deleted all the pictures of my kiddo off Facebook awhile ago. On the blog, I like sticking to generic nicknames. Wife, Husband, Dog, Cat, and now Boy. Plus when I say “Boy” it makes me feel like Homer Simpson. And who doesn’t like that?