S/O I guess....blogs and kids' names

[AFWife]

If you blog do you use your kids' names? I've seen several where they have cute nicknames for their children. I do a lot of my blogging for family so I have never thought to NOT use names...

AND Do you mind if someone else uses your child's name?

[MissMaegie'sMama]

When I began blogging I identified my kids by their first names. Later, I decided to remove personal details from the blog to protect my family's privacy. Now I identify my kids by their first initials.

I wouldn't mind if someone used my child's first name in a blog post, but I would not allow someone to identify my kids by their first and last names.

[QuestionGal]

I do not refer to DS by his name online AT ALL. I use either his first initial or a nickname that we consistently use (online only). We never call him by his nickname IRL.

I also have my settings as private as I can. I'm so adamant about it that I have asked people to remove links to the blog & references to DS where they use his name (first & last) and there are alot of people (long- distance relatives) who don't actually REMEMBER DS's real name, they only know his nickname.

[rightkindofme]

I use real names and my kids have fairly unusual names (Shanna and Callidora). I'm just not fretting.

[thehighernest]

Originally Posted by rightkindofme

I use real names. I'm just not fretting.

(Edit: I don't use our last name, but really, with the things you can do with technology today, I'm sure anyone could figure it out with a little work and whatever other information they wanted to get their hands on, too. I would add though, that when DS gets older, if he asked me not to use his name anymore, then I would no longer do so [and then I'd have a heck of a lot of editing/hiding to do with the million older posts that did, lol...]).

[philomom]

No. I use code names or pet names for them. Like Wren and Robin.

[Mrs.Music]

No. I put my name out there (this is ACTUALLY my real full name... I'm totally stalkable) so I figure it's best to use just first initials. Plus, my kids have uncommon names and I'd like them to stay as uncommon as possible. Not that I'm terribly popular, but the names are awesome IMHO ()

[Ninetales]

I use her first name on my blog. I'm not concerned about it.

[SubliminalDarkness]

First names, yes. I don't put anything overly personal on there. It's mostly just we went here, went there, baked this, bought that.... Not worried about it.

[pear-shaped]

I use my dd's nickname in posts. I'm pretty sure that I've referred to her by her name in a comment or two when responding to someone I/we know personally who knows her real name. TBH, in my case it doesn't really matter, because my family is easily identifiable by what I write in my blog. It's an expat blog, and I'm the only American expat who lives in my town...so if anyone around here ever read it, they'd know exactly who we are. But I think I'm pretty careful about what sort of material I put up on it.

[paxye]

I use real names though I don't use our last name... but that is easy to find...

I honestly have trouble reading blogs or Forum posts that use pet names or initials... so I just skip over those blogs and posts...

that being said, I have been using "paxye" as my name on the internet etc for nearly 15 years now, when I got my first e-mail address... I have only started linking it to my real name in the last few years...

[ChetMC]

Online Names

I don't blog. But I do use our kids' names first names online when I post. They're in my sig.

Using initials and nicknames feels too paranoid to me. I use our kids' names in public when tonnes of strangers are within earshot. I don't think that's dangerous or sharing too much private information, although it's probably more dangerous or more open than anyone online knowing our kids' names.

I don't like reading stuff where people are referred to as A and D or Jellybean and FunnyBunny either. Real names read / flow better. It makes the writing sound more natural and credible. If I didn't want to use my kids' names in my online writing I would just give them pseudonyms that were actual names (like they do in magazine articles) instead of using nicknames or initials.

Honestly, if anybody knows enough about you to figure out who you are they can do it without knowing your kids' names.

I agree that it's more about being mindful of what you post or say online than sharing anything and everything about your life and thinking that you're protecting yourself by shortening your kids' name down to the first letter.

[Drummer's Wife]

I don't blog - but I do use their real names online (and on places like FB where our last name is clearly shown), but it doesn't really bother me any more than it does that people we meet IRL at say, the grocery store, know the kids' names. That's just me, though, and if I knew someone didn't want real names used of their kids and I wanted to talk about said kid online somewhere - I would absolutely respect that.

But really, you can't stop other people... they could list your family's full names, DOB, address, etc., anywhere on the world wide web if they really wanted to. I know where my kids are at all times, so I guess someone else 'finding them' isn't high on my list of fears.

I agree that some of the nn's used in blogs and what-not are a bit annoying to read. If a crazy stalker wanted to find out the real name, they could do so, I'm guessing.

[rachieface]

Yup, I use our real names in our blog all the time. Most of my readers probably originally linked up from my facebook and are thus IRL friends, so they already know our full names, where we live, when we're home, etc. etc. As in the facebook thread, I just don't see it being a big risk. But then again, I'm pretty young, so I've kinda grown up with the internet and can't really imagine life without it!

Oh, but I do think some bloggers pick super cute nicknames for their kiddos. That doesn't bother me.

[tabrizia]

I use real names on my blog and in my posts generally. DH uses nicknames, but will use their real names on occasion as well. If people want to find them using nicknames isn't going to really stop it anyways.

[Carhootel]

I mostly refer to my son by his first initial on my blog but I have used his first name (which is unusual) and I just don't fret over it

[Kidzaplenty]

I have nick names that I use most often, but I do use their real names on occasion. (The nick names just define their character and help those not closely associate with us to keep them straight.) I don't use last names, though, nor do I mention exactly where we are located, though, if someone were desperate enough, I am guessing that they could figure it out if they looked hard enough.

I figure, if they really wanted to know where we were, they could find it, either by what I have posted somewhere or what someone else has posted somewhere, or even by just the free information OL. So, I don't make it overly easy, but I don't stress about it either.

[mouso]

I use their names. My blog is mainly for family and the blog name has my daughter's name in it.

I'm not worried. Maybe if a ton of people were reading it and possibly making mean/creepy comments but it's just family, and some other folks.

[mckittre]

Yes. And my son's name is unusual. And I'm a non-fiction author so his name is published in a book as well. I have in fact been recognized twice by readers of my book based on calling my son's name in a random place (not in my tiny town where everyone knows us already, but in nearby places). My entire family is easily trackable, and it doesn't worry me.

[mkksmom]

We keep it very private. DH is into internet security, so he's extra careful. We don't post pics on Facebook, and we used to ask people to take down any pics of our kids. Now we run into issues where our dd's friends post pics and we haven't decided how to handle that. We don't use real names. I used to, but then I met someone who was stalked online on multiple forums, and her story makes me nervous.