One of the thoughts I’ma thinkin’ this morning is about the relative honesty of personal weblogging.
Allie brought it up in a comment below, and I talked a bit about it at the new media presentation, but the Spinning marathon reader (or cut & paster) of the last few days brought it back into focus for me.
I tend to be completely honest, at least about those things that I am open about, and must admit perhaps adding just a touch of poetic license to make something more interesting, funny, or maybe it’s just my way of seeing a situation. I have nothing to protect as far as myself; everything is out there that is not strictly off limits in my sharing. But this does naturally include the part of me that is made up of others–family, friends, clients and classmates. It worries me that my Dad may be used by someone in a way that I did not intend other than to share a closeness that developed late in life due to my Mom’s illness. I have long ago cleared all photos of him and others off the sites, but it’s still a concern.
But I have my fiction weblogs (protected now by password), and any class portfolio blogs are as open as they would normally be in a classroom atmosphere anyway. I just don’t think that I could change Spinning in any way other than what it is, and continue it as I am.
So the moments of trepidation will pass, and unless I’m blasted by plagiarism or ridicule, Spinning and I are one and the same.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology