Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The Great Debate

Oh what to do! What to do! I'm noticing a trend here lately where many of you lovely ladies are switching your blogs to private. I can see why you'd want to do that and the thought has crossed my mind, but at the same time I like not being private. I enjoy having new comers reading and commenting and I don't want to block anyone out. I'm thinking I made a mistake when I first started my blog. I told everyone about it. I posted a link in my facebook and told all my friends and family. It's not that I mind everyone reading what I do on a day to day basis (although I'm pretty boring and I can't figure out why you all keep coming back), but I feel as though I have to censor what I say since I know I have "real life" friends reading. Not to mention it's put a damper on what I can talk about with them. When I meet up with a friend I haven't seen in a little while and start to tell them about something, they say "oh yea! I read about this on your blog." So then I'm left sitting there with not much to say because, well.... she read it on the blog! Or like the other day I was talking to a friend that I didn't know reads this and she started talking about things that I never told her - it honestly took me a good 10 minutes to figure out how the heck she knew about that!

I'm just torn. I want to be able to be real and open on here and not feel like I have to watch what I say. I'm sure you can all identify with the fact that you think and feel things that you might not actually want to admit with some of the people you come in contact with. But with all that said, I like the fact that friends I don't talk to much can jump on and see what's been going on in my life, or even friends I do talk to alot ...... I'm just so torn!

The only solution I can come up with rather than going private is to maybe switch my URL name.... Oh I don't know, I don't know! What are your thoughts on private vs. public? Or just this whole situation in general?

9 comments:

Jenna said...

Girl, I wish I had some advice, but I just don't know! I totally see all of your points, and can tell you are just torn torn torn! It is so hard to know what to do, but I know you will make the decision that is right for you!!

Ellen said...

I understand your concerns. I have thought about going private, too, but I love seeing new visitors pop up on my site.
I try not to get too controversial on my blog, but I don't worry too much about what I say. Remember, we have that right!
Only you can make that decision about going private. If you do, I hope I'll still be able to read about your adventures :)

Jennifer said...

I totally understand what you are saying. I have been WAY too open on my blog...BUT I have met a lot of new people through it. I do have a private blog where I talk more about my family and children...it is for the privacy of them. You could do something like that and have two? Whatever you do...I hope I can still read:)(Oh and how neat that you were raised in AL!)

Jennifer Owens said...

I think it depends on what you want your blog to contain. If you want to be more vulnerable and only have close friends or family read it, then I think you should create that safe place for yourself. A friend of mine went private recently for that.

I found out that my BOSS reads my blog which feels intimidating and I simply made a note to myself never to talk about work on my blog! Talk about intimidating. I can see the perks of going private and going public so I understand the torn feelings.

Personally, I love having new readers and finding new bloggers. You're one that I've enjoyed reading since I found it! (o:

Some Like it Southern said...

It was a hard decision for me too! I love new readers but once I found out I was pregnant, something inside of me told me to go private. I know it sounds crazy but honestly, that's my reason. And there are just some people I don't want to find it.
I am not a bama girl but I live in Florida, very close to the bama state line- you know the part of florida that they call L.A.! haha!

Unknown said...

i thought about doing a separate blog that was anonymous where no one would know who I was and then keep my other one too. But that would just be too much trouble. I don't know. I hate having to censor myself because when I'm typing I'm always thinking to myself..."my mother in law is going to be reading this"

BrooklynGirl said...

Don't make it private! I love cruising around and reading random people's blogs! I just found yours five minutes ago, and the first post is about shutting out strangers like me ...

Keep it open, just don't say anything you wouldn't want repeated at the family dinner table :)

ShelbyAnne said...

Despite my fiasco a week or so ago...I'm still for staying public. That is the point of a blog. Blogging, at least to me, is about you writing your thoughts, you don't do it for other people. So good, bad and the like...my vote is public.

Lauren @ Adventures of a Southern Newlywed said...

I feel torn sometimes too. I am probably not going to go private anytime soon. I like meeting new people who stumble across my blog.

Enjoy your weekend!