Monday, December 1, 2008

Staying Public, but in a More Private Way

Since I moved to Texas, I've met a lot of moms with blogs. None of my friends in Ohio had blogs --that I know of anyway, some people are rather secretive about their blogs. In fact, I used to be one of those people. I never told my friends about my blog. I liked the fact that most of the people who read my blog were people I had never met in real life. I won't call them strangers because some of them have become my friends, long distance ones that I've never met in person, but friends all the same. My blog started as a way to share my knitting with other knitters. I had discovered knitting blogs and I loved to see what other knitters were creating. In my own blog, I soon branched out to include life updates, but knitting was my main focus and goal. When we moved to Texas, I decided to use my blog as a way to update friends and family on our lives, to share pictures of the boys and to even share the occasional video. As I met more moms with blogs, I expanded my blog reading to include more of these "mom blogs" and not just my original knitting/crafting blogs.

Now it seems like a lot of these mom blogs are going private. Now they are "by invitation only." This isn't a big deal. I was invited to continue reading most of them--although I didn't get an invitation to Amie's and I really miss it. She writes one hilarious blog. Amie, if you're out there--can I have an invite? Please?

Anyway, I've been thinking about going private. I, like all moms, don't want any crazies somehow using my blog to track down and steal my adorable children. That would be incredibly awful. But I love that strangers read my blog. I love that anyone out there can come across it and be inspired by a knitting project or laugh at the silly antics of my boys. I love that someone can come across a post and be touched by a Top Ten Tuesday thought or a poignant Photo Friday picture. I don't want to change that. If this was a private blog, I would never have gotten a chance to meet Lydee or Sophanne or Suzanne or Kristin or Cheryl. I would never have experienced the joy of my first readers and their kind comments.

So I have decided to stay public, but in a more private way. I am editing some posts to take out some of the "identifying information." I will be removing a few photos and possibly a whole post or two. I will be editing posts so that my boys are simply identified as "J" and "N" and "B." But I will stay public--so please keep visiting and reading whether you know me in "real life" or not.

10 comments:

sophanne said...

That sounds like a reasonable plan. I'm glad you're staying public- I don't know why since I know I'd get an invite anyway, but like you, I like finding new people in the comments from my friends. Kind of like "a friend of a friend" thing. I've met some nice ones that way too.

Unknown said...

I debated going "private" for several months. But now I like having control over who can read about our life. I just felt talking about hubby going hunting..some crazy could figure out when I'd be home alone. That just scares me. But yes, what how much "identifying" information you put out there. If you do go private, I'd love to be able to ready about your stories.

Nicole B. said...

makes sense - i was trying to decide for my job whether i would use will's real name, but we decided for the time being it was OK. it's definitely a scary world out there!

Lydee said...

I'm glad you're staying public too. I do like my blog friends that I've met online. I do use an alias for my offspring (lol) and I. It's a good idea.

At Home Mommy Knits said...

I'm so glad you are staying public. I am so new to the blog world and it is so fun to be inspired by all the other crafters/moms out there.

Yarnhog said...

I like the public-yet-anonymous aspect of blogging, myself. I understand the need to protect your family; I avoid posting most identifying information, especially about my kids.

Blonde Momma said...

Haley, I too wondered about this, but I guess I'm naive in the fact that someone is going to actually even want to stalk me. I don't know...I like meeting people from all over. It's a personal choice, I guess.

By the way, aimme's blog is no longer private.

Anonymous said...

I try to control my online stuff because of the kids but my real life is a bigger issue. The teachers wrote the kids names on the tote bag which also has the school name on it. But apparently it only bothers me

Taylor, PK & Fin said...

Fin's blog is private since it's almost completely about him and I made it in the first place solely for family and friends, BUT I have the urge to have a totally separate public blog about fun things I enjoy that aren't as personal as my child. Still, the way I so sporadically write the one blog I do have, I doubt anyone would stick around to read another one! Oh my! Kudos to you for finding a way to combine both and finding that happy medium.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you're staying public, but I can understand your concern.