recently a friend of mine has taken her blog private. another friend went back and forth over the issue for a while and then just removed her children from the blog content all together. a blog I liked to frequent did the same, taking her kids from the spot light but still posting on her life.
I understand the world we live in can be ugly. that there are gross people out there who would want to harm my children. I know there are others who would want to borrow their still new identities. I have these concerns. I know many of you began your blogs with these concerns, and many of you have taken wise precautions.
here is my hang up. I love being connected to our family in a way until this past year or so was not existent. I am addicted to many blogs who open their lives to me to be inspired and motivated, or even just to get a good laugh. I don't want to be afraid of what is lurking in the dark corners of our world, I feel like I have the right to feel safe at my own computer. (this I know is a purely selfish and unrealistic non reality. and frankly the ugly things in our world have been around a lot longer than blogging.) and I have so enjoyed the new friends and connections I have made simply because I was available to others on my blog.
So I want to put it to you to sound off on.
do we all go private (or at least me) or do we keep our lives open to the world around us?
don't hold back here, let me know what you really think.
About Me
- amanda jane
- I like to think I am easy going and play well with others. I'm a recovering perfectionist and newly deemed realist, but ever striving to be the perfect optimist. I love to be in the thick of things, but rarely can get out. I am enjoying developing my interests new and old, and feel too modest to brag but do it often anyway! these are the ramblings and musings of my daily life and the people I love.
My Happy Family
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13 comments:
Hi Amanda. I understand your feelings. I figure that you are okay as long as you don't post your address. I feel secure in that we have a PO box on everything so it is diffult for people to track us down. We also do not have a landline. I suppose if someone really wanted your kids they could locate you. What sort of history is there for this sort of crime -blogging to kidnap? I have not heard of anything, but it could be out there. I too enjoy being able to see your blogs. I also have really enjoyed meeting new artists through their blogs. I went to New Orleans and spent the day with a woman I had never met before - she was fabulous. She could have been a crazy nut case out to kidnap me, but I guess I want to have faith that there are good people out there. I don't know if that helps at all! by the way, can you pass on my new daily painting blog. I need more visitors! http://serenasdailypainting.blogspot.com/
I guess I am struggling to sense the danger here as well. I get it if you get someone creepy leaving comments on your blog - but what other dangers are out there?
I tend to feel that identity theft sounds a lot more common than it really is. I'm quite surprised to hear people closing their blogs for this reason. I haven't heard of this being an issue.
I can certainly see why the thought of any threat to your child would put you in a panic, but I fail to see the threat here. I think you're safe as long as you don't provide your address and phone number.
If it would make you feel better, you can change the settings on your account so that only people you choose can view it. Go to Settings, and click the "Permissions" tab, and you can change it there.
- Jeni
That's what I did, I changed the settings so that only the people I choose can view it. It makes me feel better knowing I have some control over who's viewing my blog.
I would like to know if other people can "save" my pictures to their computer? What do you bloggers know about this? I would like to start one myself but there are still somethings I don't feel comfortablr with yet.
Over the last two months or so I've had not one, but TWO weird comments left on my blog. (Like "xuxiasdkjhu" with a link) I showed a friend of mine and she said "Don't click on them!" She was sure that they led to virus'. It was weird, weird and I immediately deleted them. I also put a map on my blog to see where my visitors where coming from. It was a little creepy to see that I had people from Spain, Chile, Argentina, India, etc. looking at my blog. I don't know anyone in these regions!!
So, I went back and forth trying to decide if I should go private. I don't think it's a bad idea. In fact, I will probably do it soon. It ensures that only people you know and invite are able to look at your blog. There are a lot of security options you can change on your blog. I would suggest doing that!
Whatever you decide, hopefully we will be invited to still read and stay caught up on your lives! I love your blog and love seeing pictures of your cute girls!
P.S. It was fun to see you yesterday!
We had the same concerns not long after we started our blog. We decided that it would be safer for us to just go private. It's nice because I don't have to worry too much about every picture or every entry I put on my blog possibly resulting in kidnapping or identity theft. If you go to our blog Brian posted a link to an article that was in the Salt Lake Tribune today about mom-blogs. You may get some helpful information from it. Good luck out there in the great blogosphere.
I have mixed feelings as well. I want to be open to friends who catch on to my blog through others, but it is easy for not-so-friendlies to pick up on where we live from our blog. But then, people could just Google me and probably find the same info. I'm not sure where I'll end up....probably private.
In my opinion this fear of wierd people viewing our blogs is really unfounded and just plain odd. Blogs are meant to be public, a place to meet new people and find old friends. I have never heard of any crimes linked to blogs, though they may be out there.
I think we are either really too paranoid and fearful or think so much of ourselves that we expect people to come to our sites and follow our every move. I tend to think most people assume they have the cutest kids and of course every perv out there would want them! Give me a break...because my kis are the cutest!
Anyhow, I think we let fear rule our lives and it is such a shame. It is my hope that we can continue to share our lives with each other and not go private...but it is a very personal decision.
I just googled myself and found out 3 things: 1) A great artisit shares my married name 2) a great poet shares my maiden name and 3) for 39.95 a site called "public background checks" will sell someone my address etc. I saw all of you my siblings and many of your in-laws on there too. That is a little freaky! I don't know if I want to go private, I like checking out blogs that are linked to yours and then checking out the blogs that are linked to those blogs etc. I have read about some very interesting and inspirational people. So it would be sad if we all went private. But maybe changing things around to leave out info like last names, and the city you live in wouldn't be a bad idea.
Private. I don't see the big downfall from not having your blog public. In the least, private gives you a little sense of "privacy" and security. Blogging is voyeuristic in positive and negatives ways. No getting around that. I have heard a few stories and points of advice from professionals, one being on a task force for keeping children safe in a local school district. I'd believe that she's seen some crazy cases. She won't allow her children to post blogs and they take other precautions like never putting their kids voices on their answer machines, etc. The benefits of private are well worth it.
I don't know what to do. It is so great to meet people and reconnect. Let me know what you decide and I hope I'm lucky enough to be invited!!!
you know how I feel--I go back and forth. I just changed some things in my settings so that people can't google in and it has worked for me.
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