How Much Should You Share On A Personal Blog?
When HandbagMafia wrote this post about the online culture of oversharing, I though about how I define oversharing: “Would I put this in a physical, hardcopy, autobiography?” So how much should you share on a personal blog?
I find this to be a helpful question to frame what I’m willing to share. Basically this frames me in a way that reminds me not to sell my sex life on some shitty website for five minutes of fame. Not that I would, as that’s well outside of my boundaries, but it does highlight the point where my personal comfort level is.
You may not find that my question helps you at all. That’s ok, it’s just the question that works for me. However, I would encourage you to find a question that helps to frame your boundaries for YOU.
Some questions you might like to ask yourself include:
- Is this libel? (Disclaimer: Not an expert on this definition!)
- Would I want my family, friend or employer reading this?
- Am I telling a story that is not mine to tell?
- Did I ask permission from the others in this story to be named?
- Is this something that can be on the internet forever?
- Is this depicting illegal behaviour?
I’ve blogged about things that I don’t care about anymore. You can see my first blog posts... they were boring. Boring is ok (well, kind of). They don’t help anyone, and I got bored with them, but they’re not crossing any kind of boundary.
How much do you share on your personal blog? Do you know where your boundaries are?
