I’m not talking about being discovered by a talent company and making millions of dollars before crashing and becoming a DUI, issue ridden celebrity, but having your real-life family and friends discover your blog in which you may or may not have complained about them.
There are only a couple of people who I know in real life who read my blog and I’m actually aware of it. That way, I know not to talk trash about either of them. (Kidding, they’re both amazing women!) In a way, I don’t want to say something hurtful about someone I know if the “real world”, but in another way, venting on the Interweb is fantastic. Where else can you express your irriations of the day with no repercussions? Ahh, lovely.
However, not too long ago, I can across this post in my Google Reader. Basically, if you’re feeling too lazy to click through, a lovely blogger had used her blog as a way to vent about her in-laws (because everyone needs to!) and they found out. This got me thinking, “Oh shit! Have I ever talked shit about any of my real-life friends and family?”
I’m thinking I haven’t, but it sure makes me think hard about what I write. Some of my friends irritate the shit out of me sometimes, but I’d never tell them because I love them. I just deal with it because they’re my friends. I have faults and flaws too so I try and not have a “I don’t care what I write” attitude. And luckily, I have a member’s only blog on a body modification website where I can spazz out freely. I really don’t think anyone I know would pay $10 for 6-months of blog stalking.
And it’s not like I hide the fact that I have a blog. I have it open for my friends (and only my friends) to click through to on my Facebook page, I have it on my Twitter profile and when I’m typing furiously at my keyboard at home and Kyle or my roommate ask what I’m doing, I tell them I’m blogging. If I really need to get specific, I can always password protect my posts.
I just wonder who’s actually bothered to actually search out my blog in real life. Show yourselves, you lurkers!
So, have you had any experiences with “real-life” people finding your blog? Was it good, bad or otherwise? How much do you censor your blogs to avoid confrontation?
She Writes Words 
I kept my blog anonymous for a really long time but my friends knew about it, they just didn’t know how to get to it. Well, finally I gave them the URL because I wanted them to read what I wrote. I didn’t THINK I had said anything hurtful and to be honest everything I had said I would have said to their faces. Well, one friend found a comment that I made about her and she was pissed. I wrote a post (a long time ago) about my friends that are married and how things have changed. None of it was bad in my opinion, but she was ticked. Today, our friendship is still not the same and I now make sure to NEVER write about my friends specifically. It was a horrible experience for me. I hope it never happens to you!
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Me too! Sometimes I just want to rant and rave to the world how much someone is irking me, but I don’t. I’ll tell Kyle or just stew over it for ages. I’d hate to have my friends find out how I really feel but sometimes I think they know anyway.
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My blog has never been a secret to anyone. When I first started my blog I didn’t know that strangers would read it… so I sent the link to family and friends. I’d never trash talk them… not just because they could read it. But because once it’s on the internet, it’s ALWAYS there. I would never blog about something that I would ever regret. Just be careful… especially since you’re not blogging anonymously.
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I don’t keep my blog a secret, but I don’t make a point of mentioning it all the time, other than on Twitter. If people want to creep my Facebook profile and click the link under my info, they can.
But yes, you have to be careful. The internet is a crazy thing.
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The only thing that happend with me was on ‘Friends United’ where I came in touch with one of the boys in my class at school. (That was 50 +years ago in school)
I was on an organised holiday and on the free day we met up and joined our coach driver on a trip to’Gretna Green’ and a Scottish town near by.
Usual stuff reminescing. How are lives had gone and us both now on our own.
Usual stuff of ‘ we’ll keep in’touch’ but nothing materialised out of this.
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I used to blog quite freely about friends/family/relationships – but that was almost 10 years ago when blogging wasn’t quite the phenomenon it is now! I never had any problems with people I didn’t want to read it coming across it, but I think that was probably just luck! Now if I feel the need to vent about people, I use my offline journal (or friends only LJ, on occasion!), just in case they actually do stumble across my blog someday.
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Yeah, for now I think it’s just luck that my friends aren’t reading my blog . *knocks on wood* I’m sure that sooner or later, someone will stumble across is, probably when I slip up and trash talk them. Such is life.
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It honestly never even occurred to me to be an anonymous blogger so it’s always been open to everyone! Heck, the women I work with read it on a regular basis – which I knew they knew the link but did not know they read it on a regular basis until they teased me about my “kissy” pictures on my anniversary post. Oy.
Anyways, sometimes it sucks and sometimes I want to VENT so badly! But usually I just make my post pw protected then. Or I vent in the comments of other blogs. Haha. For the most part I’m OK with people knowing about and reading my blog. I’m always surprised when I find out someone from my real life reads though! For example, yesterday Eric’s sister left me a comment. LOL
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I hear you about wanting to vent. I get like, no hits on my paid for blog, so it’s like yelling at the air. I’d at least like people to sympathize or somehthing! Thank God for pw protected posts. I’m sure I’ll put them to good use in the future!
Have you every had people you DIDN’T want reading them ask for the password though? That would be a whole new bad of awkwardness.
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Nope, I never have actually! The one about work I was only worried about the ladies I work with seeing it and none of them asked for the password. Having pw-protected posts do bring a lot of readers out of the woodworks, though! Haha
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When I used to blog in high school, there were people who would read it and wouldn’t comment or tell me about it until much later. It was strange how I felt like they had violated my privacy. By all means, read and read diligently, but let me know that you are reading! I like to keep tabs on who knows what about me.
Then again, I think half the intrigue of blogs is that they are like peeking through people’s windows at night. Some readers get more joy out of you not knowing.
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Haha, you’re right! It’s like you WANT people to read but at the same time, you don’t.
I try not to lurk on people’s blog, but sometimes, I have no words to comment with, other than “lol”.
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While I don’t *look* like an anonymous blogger and my family and friends know I write, only my friends have the URL for my blog and I don’t import everything to facebook. I did on my old blog, and it just made me feel too out there. Blog friends are opt-in, where as old co-workers and junior high boyfriends? They have a really different interest and I would rather that, unless they read blogs and find me organically, I’m not beamed into their computers regularly.
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Hey, I just stumbled upon your blog. I kept my blog totally anonymous – until now. But… I removed all the bad in law stuff. My family would also freak out if they read some of the stuff I posted about them. I’m not sure they would know how to read a blog, how to find it, or if they would even understand that I wrote it.. So I’m lucky that way.
Yay BC :D
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