My second Momversation video for this week centers on blog censorship. I first started blogging in 2001 and I did an anonymous group blog on pop-culture and politics. I started writing about motherhood in 2003, semi-anonymously, and when the link started going around I deleted most everything and began anew, this time using my name.
It was omitted for timeliness in the video, how I've defined and redefined boundaries here before and I've always been carefully vague whenever writing about my life. Regardless, you can't help it when people look for offense in your words and since responses to such have been wildly disproportionate in the past, I am incredibly more mindful of this when writing so as to shield my family from uncomfortable circumstances. Like Rebecca, I so understand those who do remain anonymous, who don't post photos, names, etc.
(We also address the criticism from those who say we're "exploiting" our kids. I accidentally got myself worked up over that one.)
Do you have boundaries for your website? Have you ever had any uncomfortable experiences?
It was omitted for timeliness in the video, how I've defined and redefined boundaries here before and I've always been carefully vague whenever writing about my life. Regardless, you can't help it when people look for offense in your words and since responses to such have been wildly disproportionate in the past, I am incredibly more mindful of this when writing so as to shield my family from uncomfortable circumstances. Like Rebecca, I so understand those who do remain anonymous, who don't post photos, names, etc.
(We also address the criticism from those who say we're "exploiting" our kids. I accidentally got myself worked up over that one.)
Do you have boundaries for your website? Have you ever had any uncomfortable experiences?
My boundaries include:
Never blogging about things we are GOING to do, but rather, I post about the event after we've done it (you know, to keep creepers away).
I never talk about where my kids go to school or where we go to church.
I always get permission from my oldest if I'm posting about him; I want to make sure he's not embarrassed!
Great topic!
names are our middle names. my husband says he likes that something about my blog is still private. when i meet people in real life through blogging, i use real names, but it doesn't have to be out there in the web.
Who is Kathy Lee Gifford to complain about mom bloggers? Did she not embarrass her son Cody on a daily basis when she was on Live! with Regis & Kathie Lee? She is ridiculous.
I'm not certain how I would handle a problem, should it occur. I'd hate to have to take the blog down, it's part of my life now, and once something is on the Internet, it's pretty much always there. There's no real "delete" button!
I don't use the names of other friends of mine, particularly their kids, unless I've talked to them about the possible implications.
I decided to do things this way because I KNEW I'd want to publicize shows and events we were doing and I KNEW I wouldn't be able to keep the fictitious name and no identifying information thing secret and do the kind of blog I wanted.
Ooo. good one. I definitely blog more for myself then the kids, but! There are boundaries. I will never use my blog to tear down my family. I may write about struggles & ask for advice with problems, but I will not destroy my kids' reputations on my blogs. Also, being a navy wife, I don't announce on my blog my DH's comings and goings. I will probably blog about his homecoming, but I won't advertise when he's gone for all the worlds crazies to stalk me, you know? Also, if I can't say it to someone's face, I don't write it on the blog.
I've been blogging for 4 years and do not censor myself along the line of my name, my families name's, where we live, etc. I do hold back on things concerning my marriage and personal relationships. My blog is not the place to work out any issues I may have with my husband and/or friends, in my opinion.
I understand there are crazies out there. I also know that if they wanted to find me, they could. This is why I think it's ridiculous for bloggers to give themselves nicknames and call their kids silly names. Yet it's their right and not my call.
As for exploiting kids by writing about them in blogs? Uh, no. And I would have quickly reminded Kathy Lee about the years of personal information she shared with millions on TV about her children. I'm hoping Heather- and she seems the type- ripped her a new one. What an idiot.
I censor like crazy, but mostly to keep my blog on topic. I don't mention my wife or kids by name either. Then again, I have a very small readership so it's not like I've had people recognize me on the street based on my website. I figure I'll address any problems as they arise.
I never blog about my girl's boyfriends, and believe me I have a few funnies I would have loved to share. I also never blog about angry moments with in laws.
I used to be not-so careful. I used to post tones of pictures of my son and our family. I was even an idiot and used our last name in our website address. I've since stopped posting pictures of my kids (there's a lot of perverts out there), aand saved 98% of them for facebook, where i KNOW who's looking at my pictures. I've also added a tracking tool to my blog to I have an idea as to who's visiting...and I know most of my visitors. But I don't post school, church, or city info on my blog. I don't specify where in MI I live. And if my blog weren't the only record I have of all of my kids' firsts and such, I'd delete it all and start fresh...even changing my url address. The web can be a scary thing.
I was worried and still worried about posting pictures of my family. But I found a javascript to help stop others from stealing my photos. I also got great ideas from your site as I agree to only post things after the event. And i watch for backgrounds in my photos if taken outdoors and knowing that I will post them on my blog.