I was a huge idiot last week and just wanted to share the story. I posted about my crappy childhood and my mom found it. I told her that I had a new blog, but I totally didn't foresee the consequences of my actions. She created an account, read one of ediblewoman's posts and semi-bashed me in doing so. Ediblewoman responded to my mom saying that she hoped my mom's bitter daughter would see her mom's positive attributes. That's me! I am bitter from time to time, but I do see my mom in a positive light. At the time, I was SO upset with her, but now I think it's funny and so does my mom. With this example, I just want to illustrate how we all need to think things through before we post anything.
Too often do we just hop online and enter Blog World without considering reality. Well, I know I least I do. It's not a good idea to just post whatever without at least running it through your own logic and testing for errors. A little analysis and research before posting will never be a bad idea. Grammar mistakes and repetitive postings from newbies are the least of our worries. Things get dicey quick when we don't consider our audience and how they will receive our message. We need to consider the side of our perceived enemy and resist the temptation to just let them have it. It's worth the extra care to know that if someone still responds with negativity, at least you tried to be respectful. Also, have the courage to admit when it's not one of your shining moments and you bash your fellow blogger. Everyone can see it online anyway.
Maybe there are some who post to get points and don't care about the repercussions. Maybe there are some that want to say whatever they want and let the games begin. I'm just suggesting that we be better bloggers and rise above the slop we've thrown around. And don't tell your mom about your blog if you're going to post a bitter child blog. Moms not only have eyes in the back of their heads, but top secret blog-sensing powers too.
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I don't usually post stuff about my family on my blog. I'm always afraid someone will find it. A few members of my family found my MySpace once -- when I didn't have my first and last name on my account -- and I had to change things and warn them not to tell my mom what they read... and it shouldn't be that way. Sadly, it is.
"Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light." ~ Joseph Pulitzer
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/k-mal
Audience is always a big thing to consider. Of course, we all have our mistakes...*ahem* ME *ahem. I've been semi-bashed a few times, but I bet I deserved it. It's still a learning experience and I'm always trying to be a better blogger.
" Moms not only have eyes in the back of their heads, but top secret blog-sensing powers too." Oh THAT's funny! Y'know I've been thinking of doing a letter to my mother type of blog. I think I shall do it if she's going to sense it's creation. Muahaha! Sorry...it was evil laugh time.
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You never know who to expect as your audience. Quite a few years ago when the wonderful world of dot coms came about I had a blog. Biggest mistake ever from that perspective because it was prior to the privacy blocks and so forth, so I never thought about it. Until *poof* my dad found it one day and was rather agitated with me. I got rid of that blog, and since then have learned to a.)not talk about uber personal things like family on blogs and b.)to make sure you have privacy. I have facebook and myspace accounts AND my parents know about them. Yes, I am at an age where I shouldn't have to worry about my parents' approval since I haven't lived at home in awhile, but they still care. They want to know that we're safe and protected. And the best that they can do is make sure we're protected.
The family has to have a way to check up on you.
A friend gave me some good advice after I posted the childhood blog--"If whatever you write is something you would be willing to tell that person directly, I think you're ok . . ."
This is what I go off of when I blog.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
Totally true! And even then, if it is something that you're willing to tell other people and don't mind if they find out about, that is also okay to post in my mind. Sometimes I'll go off on a rant and I won't mention people's names or anything, and they'll have no clue that I'm talking about them. But the key thing is, it can't be anything specific, otherwise they'll know that you are talking about them. Several times I've gone off on a rant about someone and another friend thought it was them because I wasn't specific enough.
Hey, you've got to let stuff out sometimes and it might not be the best idea for the other person to know, at least not right away.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
Heh heh... funny story. My boyfriend's friend actually got him to sign up for this site around the same time I did. He eventually dropped off, not really caring, cause he didn't need the scholarship at all (his parents were paying for everything). But, what he neglected to mention was that he still read every single one of my blogs. So I posted one a while back that had a line like 'Maybe we're all wrong, and God is a lizard'. And while we were chatting, he randomly started talking about it. It was super weird.
What's really weird though is that I"m pretty sure someone I talk to a great deal on the site probably knows my boyfriend, at least through extension. Small world, really.
~C
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This site does have a way of connecting people together. :)
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
I am so sorry to have ended up in the middle of that. And for the record, I am not in cahoots with your mom...she found my post about teaching randomly. I kind of hope she didn't read the one about the Christian Sex Toys. Have I posted anything else untoward? I never considered there could be MOTHERS on the site! (I recently found out that one of my best friends' mothers is a lurker and she LOVES reading my blog).
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
It's not your fault, you can't feel the blog-sensing powers of moms when they're coming your way. I wouldn't worry about any of your postings, just be you because there are people here that love your blog. You can't please everyone. Finding out that someone read something can open up a great discussion and, as in my case, some healthy reconciliation.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
...I would've been SO pissed.
My mother once found my personal journal. It was... horrible, to say the least. Considering that I was in a psych ward at the time and there were SO many things in there she should not know, ever. Fortunately she didn't read much of it and I made her swear to never, ever do that again.
to not blog anymore. That post should be her one and only. She understood that she crossed a line and I got that she felt attacked by things I said.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina
She shouldn't have been reading it in the first place without your permission. x.x You should be entitled to privacy.
It's not like a diary you keep in your room. I had told her about me starting a new blog on proU and what I wanted my name to be. I had no idea at that time what I would blog on. I didn't realize until after I posted that second post that I had been an idiot. There's my new blogger mistake.
www.progressiveu.org/blog/americangirlinchina