Late, I know. Thank that bastard, Jester.
One of the more disturbing things about writing fairly “naked” here on the blog – and the very question of how much you share on your blog was addressed on Hilly’s show on Sunday – is when people you know offline find and read your blog.
Discovering that my mother read my blog wasn’t an incredible surprise (by any stretch). She really started reading it two years ago when she picked up one of the business cards I made up for BlogHer ‘06.
“What’s this?” she said, looking at the odd little cartoon man on the card. “SecondHand Tryptophan?”
“Oh,” I said, thinking SHIT! “That’s my blog.” Maybe if I just say it really fast she’ll skip over it and go away.
“A blog? What is a blog, anyway?” She’d heard the term in the newspaper before, but really didn’t know what blogs were.
“It’s like a web site, kind of.” OK, bye!
“You have a web site?”
Sure, doesn’t everyone? “Yeah. It’s my writing.”
“What do you write about?” she asked.
“Whatever. Anything. Everything. It’s like having a daily column online.”
“Huh,” Mom said, walking off and taking the card with her. What she was probably thinking, I imagine, was You can bet your ASS I’m looking at this as soon as I get near my computer.
So I KNEW she knew about it. But I pretended – as I continue to pretend – that she doesn’t read this blog. The moment she first left a comment on one of my posts, the illusion was shattered. But I made a vow then that I think was a wise choice on my part: I will continue to write my blog as if nobody I know reads it. That may not be the choice for everyone, but it’s the one that works for me.
It doesn’t bother me any more. It did, at first. But I really DO write as if she doesn’t know I blog. Otherwise, I might not say a LOT of shit I say. Or blog naked photos of myself online. All that while friends of hers gather weekly and have all SEEN my naked photos online. AND know me personally.
My niece, Lauren, has seen my blog. Obviously, she’s not looking at it every DAY or she wouldn’t have been surprised when I showed up to her house completely bald last week. But she’s seen it. And if you’re reading this now, Lauren, GO AWAY! UNCLE KARL USES WORDS YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HEARING. Or using. Course, you can’t use them until you HEAR them, which is why you shouldn’t be reading my blog. At all.
My dad knows about my blog, and so does my brother. Again, I have no idea how often they read it, whether they subscribe to the feed or what…but they know about it.
And now it is VERY clear that my twin daughters know about the blog. First of all, I told them about it when I visited them last month. And I set up the radio show with Alyson, which is linked to all over the place on my site and the BTR page. And I comment on the Alive Campaign blog, where I am AGAIN linked.
But yesterday, my daughter Ashley commented on my blog. I’m not providing a link to her blog because that’s her privacy to dole out. So now my girls are reading 2HT. It’s like my blog coming-out party or something. Yes, girls, Dad has a blog and he says “fuck” (sometimes a lot). I hope that’s not the same level of trauma you experienced when you first thought about your parents having sex…or worse, walked IN on them. But I realize it may come as a shock that I use profanity. Or blog naked sometimes.
Really, though, it’s all in the name of my art. *cough*
This is the nature of the blogging beast, however. When people you know find your blog, do you continue on with your blog, or do you pack up shop and find another anonymous blog to write?
I’m staying.
I’ve done my share of (relatively) anonymous blogging. It’s not for me any more.
What about you? Do your offline friends and family know about your blog? Does that change how you write? Or WHAT you write?
I have a separate blog for my family news. I created that one first, but I felt I needed my own space. Especially as I bitch about my MIL on one and she reads the other. It is more that both blogs have completely separate functions. Very, very few people have access to both. My new blog is pretty much off-limits to people in know in my every day life. But there are a few bloggers I have gotten to know and gotten friendly with that I feel comfortable letting them see my family blog.
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I scrapped blogs in the past when I discovered that coworkers found them. I’m pretty sure that no one I know in real life reads my current blog. I don’t know how I’d feel if they were regular readers. Would it affect my writing? Probably.
Is it weird I can’t be myself with people I actually know?
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Very interesting.
I don’t think anyone I know reads my blog. I’m pretty frank on it, but I said it, so if they happen upon it, so be it.
Food for thought, though.
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Hello – No, I just meant that it’s a whole new world now that they’re reading the blog. I’m not changing a thing.
MC – I think you’re well-read. You might not be DOOCE popular, but then again, who is?
BBM – If I get rich from my blog, I’ll totally give out better prizes on Freaky Frakkin’ Friday.
Not Afraid to Use It – Pretty smart, actually, having two blogs. You can easily distract people from the REAL blog, that way.
Stacey – Well, it’s a little strange to ME, but then, look who’s talking?
Michael – Hi there! Always nice to see a new face. Yeah, I never went out of my way to point out my blog to family or friends, but I don’t discourage it, either. If they ask, I’ll tell them about it.
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