Self-censorship in blogging
It feels like a long time since I’ve blogged. In fact, it has been a long time since I’ve blogged about anything substantial or very personal. It’s not for lack of want; there have been things that I’ve wanted to say, but when you know that the blog gets enough Google juice to get noticed - for some reason, my personal blog occasionally jumps higher than my business blog - you tend to be careful with what you say. If the vent is about family, you don’t want to hurt their feelings or jeopardize access to the ones you love, and if the vent is about business, you don’t want to get sued because the target of your rant suddenly develops a thin skin.
So when things get tough, I get quiet. And things were tough for a while, and I became so silent I sometimes forgot how to speak. It seemed that even the most innocuous of hellos could unleash a torrent of vitriol, so it was safer to concentrate on work. Computers don’t talk back, and other than the lock-up or odd blue screen, the responses are pretty predictable.
The other impediment is mixing business and personal, which, in my generation, was scrupulously separated. I realize that is quickly becoming an outdated model, and I’m trying to relax about “people” stumbling across the complexities of what often looks from the outside to be my novelty-value life. But in a socially-networked world where you’re as likely to bump into someone on FaceBook as on LinkedIn, you can only handle these collisions with aplomb - a bit like the time I discussed my son’s academic performance , in the nude, in the locker room of the YMHA, with his grade 2 teacher.
At this year’s Northern Voice conference, I noticed that the “next generation” of bloggers - this is a reference to age, not technology - doesn’t seem to have that need to compartmentalize their lives. Uber-blogger Darren Barefoot mixes professional with personal observations on his blog, though he maintains a corporate site with a built-in blog, as well. Boris Mann, another prolific blogger, writes in several forums, and can be followed on Twitter, and so on. Point made. My personal solution, maintaining two blogs, and recognizing that both can be read by the same audiences, is my comfort level. If I really have something I have to get off my chest that I don’t want made public, then I’ve decided that my blog simply isn’t the place for it. The rest is a “hey, if you don’t like it, there’s plenty of other blogs out there to be read” situation. There, now I feel better. Next post coming up soon.