Today while Gavin was napping I was bored, but I didn't physically feel up to doing much. I got on my blog and decided to have a little looksee at the links that were on my blog's links (did you get that?). It was fun looking at strangers living, laughing, and loving life, plus I did find a couple of old friends too. Anyway, their pictures were just fun inspiration for my life. However, I was too shy to say "hi" as I've asked readers of my blog to do (double standard, I know).
It got me thinking though about who reads my blog? I know some of my friends and family do, but my stat-counter keeps going up each day, and I wonder if all of my visitors are people I know or strangers? And of course that thought leads to another... are they good strangers, or bad strangers?
I love that I've found old friends through my friends' blogs. I also love that I've made new friends through blogging. It makes me think of the Irish expression, "There are no strangers in Ireland, just friends you haven't met yet."
However, part of me gets a little panicky thinking what if a crazy stalker is looking at pictures of my kids? I do feel pretty "safe" here in Taiwan, but we'll be moving back to North America next year. I'm wondering if the blog should go private then.
Let me know your thoughts on public vs. private blogs. Also, please let me know if I do go private if you'd like an invitation to keep reading.
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1 day ago
5 comments:
No matter you decide go public or private, I would love to continue reading your blog~ to know how everything is like for the big Reil family in Canada ^^
I did some research last night on the whole "stalker" thing and almost 90% of the time the person becoming strange was a family member! Can you believe that? I was thinking it would have been an ex or someone you didn't get along with, but your own family? I talked to the hubby and he said not to go private. Most of our lives are out there on the net somewhere, at least this is my own words. When I have kids I may feel different. Let me know what you decide!
It's funny that you starting thinking about it. My friend posted a newspaper article on her blog about a family who posted a picture of their baby's haircut and it turned up on someone else's as a pro-Hitler look. They freaked out and the judge ruled that there was nothing they could because the family put it on the net, then it becomes 'public domain'.
The article also stated (like Mandy said) that the majority of harassing is done by family members on blogs. One family finally got a lawyer to have yahoo release who was harassing their family on their blog and it was a close family member......
These cases are still the minority. I just have my blog set up so it doesn't show up in searches. I Googled my name and found a couple of interesting things... but my blog didn't show up. That was good enough for me. Good luck in your decision. Remember these stories are the minority, they are just extra scary
I have also mulled over the idea of going private, but haven't come to that decision yet. I, too, have my blog set not to come up on searches, but it can still be accessed through someone else's blog, so who knows. Whatever you decide, keep us in the loop.
I've thought about this a lot lately, and these comments ease my mind a bit. Thanks!
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