Wise blogging advice

The author of Random Acts of Reality posted some wise advice in his post How To Blog And Not Lose Your Job. This is one part that I think people starting blogs never realize…a point I often write about:

You are not anonymous, in todays world of easy investigation (via the Internet of course) it is normally a matter of an hours work to find out who a blogger is. It’s really easy if the person who is doing the investigation works for the same company you do. Sure, you might use a pseudonym and reduce your boss and fellow workers to nicknames, but it only takes one mention of some uncommon point to blow the whole thing open. For me, it was when I wrote about swallowing some HIV+ blood, the news spread around ‘in real life’, and it didn’t take a genius to work out who was writing my blog. In some places your company might be able to force your Blogging company or ISP to reveal your details. So write as if you are writing under your own name, or be honest and don’t bother with a pseudonym.

That busts people all the time, they write about something that can later link them to their identity. I don’t think people realize how difficult it can be to write anonymously.

As a rule I don’t write anything that I wouldn’t say in a crowd and I don’t say anything about anyone that I wouldn’t say to their face. I don’t write about anyone in my personal life without letting them know. I respect their privacy.

I admit there was one time when I was shocked that the words I wrote reached the person I was writing about. I wrote about a conversation that took place in my home about the gender of a person on a game show. It was simple really, my Mom thought the contestant was a man, I thought it was a female. I asked the kids to watch the show (not saying we wanted their reaction on the gender of the contestant) and one thought it was a man, the other thought it was a woman. I blogged about it and mentioned how, when we are unsure, we can jump to the wrong conclusion. Eventually it comes to pass where you have to refer to gender and I hate saying “it” (with a transgendered person) but it’s easy to guess wrong.

Never in a million years did I think:

1) My site would end up being #1 on Google for a search on the contestant.

2) That the contestant would hear about my post and comment he is transgendered.

That was so cool, but I never expected the contestant to read what I wrote. I didn’t care that he did (because I followed my rule and didn’t say anything I wouldn’t say to his face) and I am extremely thankful that he responded because it was informative for a lot of people, but what are the odds of that? Obviously high.

Be very careful about not only writing about yourself but writing about others.

Tyme Said