Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Where is the line?

This post from Lorna's Laces caught my attention. There is a fine line of figuring out where you draw the line on the information you put out into the internet. Also, when one has a crafting blog, how much do your readers actually want to hear about your life?

I have read many blogs. I think the line can be easily crossed both ways. Sometimes a lack of personal information makes me feel less attached to the blog I am reading because I don't really know very much about the person who writes it. Vice-verse, I have read a few blogs where too much info is offered . . . or may be it was that with the info provided I realized this would not be someone I would get along with in real life and my interest in their blog disappears.

So where is the line? How do each of you figure out what is okay to put out there? Right now, I have two blogs. One for crafting and one where I write more information that pertains to my life, beliefs, exercising, frustrations, and rambling thoughts. Is my crafting blog less because I don't include these things in it? Would my blog be more well rounded and interesting to people if I combined them together?

I would love to hear everyone's opinions on this and where you draw the line in your own blogs, if you have one.

7 comments:

  1. It's a toughie, isn't it? I don't share much, except in general terms, about my DH and our son. Sometimes it's not my story to share. Other times it's just private.

    And I do think over, What if my mother read it? Or my aunts? What if one of my former co-workers read it? I try to write so I wouldn't cringe if it got read out loud at my funeral.

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  2. Well I am a privacy nut, so I typically don't put a whole lot on my blog. I am trying to put a little more personal stuff just because I know not everyone wants to read about cooking.

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  3. I find that where I draw the line varies a lot depending on the topic and my mood. Generally, I keep to crafting. I'm a pretty private person, and I don't really want a lot of my personal stuff out there on the internet (trying to blog about my life in Germany convinced me of that...I don't like and even resent feeling like I have to report every part of my life for others to see). I think of a blog like any limited relationship; people see a part of you, and might be surprised if they encountered other areas that don't usually come up (most of my coworkers would be shocked to discover that I knit...). In some cases, people that I meet become deeper friends and begin to learn more about the other facets of me, but that happens slowly and usually off the blog page. What's there is really me, but it's not all of me, and I don't think it has to be. It's the piece that I think my readers find most interesting, that I am most comfortable sharing, and that fits with the voice of the blog, whatever I perceive that to be at the time.

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  4. Interesting post.I usually keep my posts strictly about the things I stitch,but yes at times I do feel the need to share my joy and ofcourse the blues too. It just comes out.And at times I do a rethink and delete the post at the drafting stage itself :)

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  5. I pretty much stick to crafting,cats and gerenal interest things I find interesting. I suppose my interests per se do say something about myself, though

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  6. Like you, I need a bit of personal attachment or I just skim the blog, or delete it from my reader in time.

    As you know, I'm eventually going to re-name my blog, or create a new one, because Chan is babbling about SO much more than knitting, even though originally, my blog was going to basically be my Ravelry notebook, since I started blogging before Ravelry was an option.

    Still, I don't use the Knight's name, and I don't show photos of our home, say too much about when we won't be home, etc. I think anything that compromises my/our safety is where I draw the line.

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  7. I am a private person and try not to give out much personal information. I love photos and confess to scanning many blogs for interesting photos before investing time to reading the content (there are exceptions). My Hubs is ultra proud and often shows my blog to co-workers...who have posted comments with inappropriate amounts of detail like I know them personally. Those comments are moderated!
    ...I also only accept friends on Facebook that I know!

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