A student on the ichat mailing list posted today about an interesting post on a lawyer's blog about the safeness of weblogs.
Are you a young professional, excited that your blog gives you the freedom to speak out to a large audience? Well consider what a smaller and more powerful audience (i.e. your employer) might think about what you say, and how well you say it. And of course remember that while you blogging your innermost thoughts you are also creating the world's most accessible databank of
stuff that can be used against you later.
Are weblogs safe?
he asks. Well, no. There are no bones about it. I know full well that the opinions I express on Politics and various other issues could cost me a job in some situations. Luckily, I don't plan on ever running for office, and my beliefs in free speech and other librarian values, which are most of what I expound in this blog, are not a liability in my chosen profession. I don't think I would want an employer who didn't want me to blog or who would hold against me anything that s/he found here. I don't post personal stuff here if I don't want my parents to read it, and that keeps me pretty safe in that arena. But I am always conscious that whatever I put up can come back to haunt me in some fashion or another. If nothing else, my children will throw it in my face.
No, blogging isn't safe, but what is? Walking across the street isn't safe. Eating chicken isn't safe. Even sitting at home isn't completely safe (forest fire, anyone?). Nevertheless, I do all those things on a daily basis, managing my risks by using crosswalks, cooking meat thoroughly, and locking my doors.
Life without risk does not exist. More than that, I refuse to live with completely minimized risk. What I will do is manage risk and make sure that the risk is worth the gain. For me, blogging is completely worth the risk. And to be fair to Ernie, I don't think he's advocating not blogging; he just wants people to be conscious of what they're getting into. I agree, and I am.
Stephen says:
The trick is obscurity. I don't mention myself by name in my weblog. Which means anyone doing a search on my name is not going to find the correct person (although there are a myriad of other people on the web who share my name, and could theoretically provide some obscurity). Neither do I mention the true name of my employer or other such details which might identify me.
Actually, now that I think about it, I believe I did include my name once, but made no reference that it was in fact my name. It comes up like 264th on a Google search or something.
Laurabelle says:
I'm currently the first four links on a Google search for and the first five for . That doesn't bother me; I want my friends to be able to find me if they know either of my names.
At one point I had two blogs, a library-related one, in my UW student webspace, and this personal one. The idea was that I'd show the UW site to professors, potential employers, and such, and this site would be just for fun. I didn't even link to this one from the other. But of course, as I didn't try to hide my identity here, it was a fairly pointless exercise.
I would feel really weird about hiding my identity. It would obscure my personal voice, and I honestly don't think I have anything to hide. Potential employers, particularly, should have some insight into what kind of person I am, and whether I would fit well into their work environment. If they would hold against me anything that they found here, then it doesn't bother me, because I don't want to work for them anyway.
I guess I don't see blogging as particularly different from any other kind of potentially damning publicity, and I'm not going to censor my life obsessively. Other than the thing, I don't give out my address or my travel itinerary or other personal details, in the interest of safety.
Stephen says:
Suffice it to say, you have a much more positive view of human society than do I. My experiences in that society have taught me a healthy sense of paranoia. I'll leave it at that.
Laurabelle says:
I think I also have a particular kind of stubbornness, the kind that makes me determined to live my life the way I want, regardless of anyone else's attempt to control me. It's like my view on terrorism; if I change my life because of them, they have won. I'll live the way I want, and accept the consequences.
Jeff says:
I have to say, I agree with Laura, anyone who would fire me or create other negative consequences for what I put up on a weblog wouldn't be able to fire me. I'd quit. I honestly would not be able to tolerate that kind of a work environment. Not necessarily the best attitude for entering a job market, but I've realized that if I hate something I have to spend half my waking life doing, I better look at my situation and find a way to change it (anyone who would mess with me over something not related to work is probably also running me through other bs).
I'm still a student and trying to make myself more than marketable. We'll see if I change my tune later on. (Mind you, I am rather good at working with people, I just don't have a particularly high bs tolerance).
Jeff