Bloggers...ever feel over-exposed?

[MaceyMom]

the idea of becoming a blogger has been dancing in my head since the new year began. but one reason i am hesitant is fear of over-exposure. anyone feel like that? or regret doing a blog?
TIA

[*clementine*]

I was feeling the same way. I would love to do one, but I'd like to get personal. Diary style lol....and I don't think that would work.

[Twocoolboys]

I just started a blog - the link is in my signature if you're interested. I felt that way, too, but I am using the same pen name that I use on Associated Content, and I feel a little less exposed that way. I've only done two posts on my blog so far, but I'm going to keep it about the same topics. I don't really want to do it journal style. I figure if I stick to my "safe" topics, I won't feel too exposed.

[curlygrrl]

I read some advice from a popular blogger about how to start a blog, they said don't tell anyone you know IRL about your blog and don't use your real name. I like that advice and I've stuck to it so far, unfortunately I can't post links in places like this where people I know IRL are!

[Gale Force]

I use my real name and talk about food-related issues. Invariably personal things come up. My husband has started to balk. Read “I Better Not See It On The Blog”

[wordmommy]

I think that's sort of the point with a blog! My familyl and some friends know about my blog, so I guess there is a sense sometimes of being unable to just vent about the dumb things they occasionally do. On the other hand, not being able to vent about them CAN force me to chose my words carefully and really think about why I'm so frustrated. It's kind of a double-edged sword.

[queenbean]

I have a couple of blogs that are more informational with a little personal stuff... they're in my signature line. (At least, they should be... I need to make sure.) Then I have a Myspace blog for my friends that gets a little more personal.

I think it all depends on how you handle it. If you don't have your real name or anything that can be traced to you (such as your kids' names, what city you live in, where you work, that kind of thing), you can get as personal as you want and not worry about it. But it really depends on what you want to do with it. My blogs are kind of themed, so it's easy to leave the private stuff out of it.

[snowbunny]

I have a few blogs, and I'm beginning to feel that sense of over-exposure. I've been thinking of scrapping them, and starting anew with a focus on anonymity.

[Selesai]

I have a blog that I just use to put up news and pictures of my kid, so my family can see. I worry about those pictures being misused by random people.

I have a livejournal account which I publish some private and some public content on, only online friends and 2 IRL friends know of this.

Like snowbunny I have wanted to start an anonymous blog but I worry about whether it will actually get any traffic because it is, ya know, anonymous. ?

[shell_sea]

I have a blog that has my real name attached to it, but I am quite careful to only write things I am comfortable having on the internet. The easiest way I have found to ensure I am writing appropriate content? I told my mom about my blog. :

I figure if it's safe for my very conservative mom, it's safe for the prying eyes of the internet.

That said, it is still very weird to meet someone and then realize they've been reading my blog. There is that "how did you know that about me?" moment, and then I remember, oh yeah, I blogged it.

[rainbowmoon]

I am currently in the process of privatizing my blog.
it's been difficult (reader's I don't even know emailing me wanting an explanation, I feel kind of guilty)
now, I wish I had kept it private from the beginning!

[milosmomma]

I was cool with my blog until my parents referred to something I had mentioned in it. I don't know how they found out about it...but it's suddenly really weird 12 years after I moved out, I'm starting to feel like my mom just went through my dresser!

I, too, am considering scrapping it and starting fresh. I feel limited in what I say about work, my family & my mommy friends because they're ALL reading it! :

[RomanGoddess]

This question has come up for me, too. I see blogs on which people have posted photos of their children for example, with names, details of where they live, everything. My blog does not have real names or our address (except the city) and I am still afraid to put photes of my daughter on it as I do not want her to become some target for a child porn ring or abduction or whatever. I don't know, I suppose that I am being super paranoid.

[waiting4it2snow]

I like that LJ has a function so you can choose to mark your entry as friends only, public, or even private (which means you are the only one who can see what you posted).

I never gave my mother my LJ address. Just not a good idea.

I do censor myself anyway though. I wish I used it for actual writing/deep thoughts. It ends up being either a dull litenany of my day or a bunch of links I want to get around to reading eventually or an occasional bitch-fest about my hubby. To think, I started to flex my writing muscles! I definitely am scared of criticism and/or flame-wars, which is just flat-out silly, I KNOW!

[blizzard_babe]

I never felt over-exposed (no one really reads it except for my friends and family, and that's who I intend it for, so hooray!), until some students of mine found it. Now I have to watch my tongue and not talk about getting sauced during summer vacation.

[Zadee]

I do occasionally think about that but because family know about the blog there is a certain amount of self-censorship that takes place. And I have former students that read it as well, so I keep a lot of topics off limit. Kids, cooking and being grumpy pretty much keep me safely reasonably on topic.

[MommaGreenBean]

I'm careful with mine, only posting what I don't mind *anyone* seeing. And my mom has a link to it and so do other family members. I decided to keep mine going in one direction only, so my stuff is almost exclusively about being a parent and children. I also don't show my babe's face on it and I very sparingly use her real name. I doubt much of my family members read much, they'd be bored to tears

I *know* someone can find me by just my first name and my city, which are fairly common knowledge via my IP address so I'm not overly concerned about that. We live in Montana - I know how to shoot!

[Imogen]

There's only ever been one social networking site online where I've felt over exposed and that is on MySpace. I used to have a Yahoo 360 page and that wasn't bad at all and I could control who accessed my blog. Not being able to post more than one photo per blog entry caused me to close that down and move elsewhere to a site where that is possible to do. It's not a HUGE community, so I don't feel over-exposed and once again, I have control over who can read my blog entries. I tend to keep written detail about my life to the minimum and try to avoid negative posts. There are photo's on there, but like I said, access is controlled by myself which makes me more comfortable. But no, MySpace made me feel naked and vulnerable, so while I have an account which I keep so I can access friends blogs there, I don't post anything on it.

Peace