Blogging and privacy

Allison talks about a survey making the rounds about blogging and privacy. I’ve never been one to take surveys, and I don’t especially want to try and complete the whole thing, but I had a few thoughts…

Obviously, I do identify myself on both of my sites. I think in both cases it’s for good reason. I want my readers to trust me, and trust in what I’m talking about. On the tech site it’s all about the information I’m sharing with folks. I think there’s a certain amount of credibility that comes from having my name out there. The same goes, maybe even more so, for this site. I want people to see me not as a story, or just a victim, but as a whole person. I want people to see that the guy who has bad days, and who struggles with self-esteem and depression, is the same guy down the hall working in IT, and the same guy who’s married, takes trips, loves photography, etc.

That being said, the use of my name also means there are some things I can’t discuss. I don’t generally talk about people I know in my day to day life. I don’t use the names of people I work with, or name where I work. I don’t talk about them except in the generic sense of working with their PC’s. There’s no reason to. I also don’t get very specific about the abuse I suffered. Same thing applies. There’s no reason to name names, it doesn’t change the truth. Believe it nor not, there’s a whole lot of stuff that I don’t talk about on my blog. So I can certainly see why anyone would want to use a pseudonymn.

The reality is, as much as I write about my life, I control what you see and what you don’t, just as any other blogger does. I try to do that responsibly, understanding that it is open to anyone to read, friends, family, future employers, coworkers, etc. While I don’t ever want to lie and ruin my credibility, I also don’t want to hurt people for no good reason either. Sometimes it’s a delicate balance. That’s why my best advice to bloggers is to always, always think before you write! 🙂