Sunday, July 13, 2008

Censorship

Bloggers, do you censor what you write, based on who you know reads your blog? Would you censor yourself more if you knew different people were reading? I don't think I really censor what I write, I just don't write about certain things. I Don't gripe about RF here because I know that he reads it. I also don't write about my mom because I told her about the blog and whether she reads is a mystery, but I'm not interested in a fight if she does.

I found out recently that a teacher at The Boy's school reads my blog. I know her from outside of school (*waves, HI M LOL) and she is a nice person so I'm ok with her reading my blog. Knowing that she read it though gave me slight pause. It caused me to think about the "what ifs". Like what if J's mom reads my blog? What if TB gets a teacher that reads my blog? I know, based on my stats, that I have FAR MORE readers than commenters. That means there are plenty of people out there reading that I have no idea about. Over all, I'm ok with that but every once in awhile, it makes me ponder what I put out there.

This was what I liked about Livejournal. I had the power on each post to select who got to read it. Although I know none of that is fool proof, it wasn't just open to anyone. Most of my stuff was public, because I wasn't worried about but I liked the friends or private option. Sometimes, I needed to say something about someone that I knew who read and I would just set up a custom list and viola, they didn't know what I said.

10 comments:

Quigs78 said...

I totally censor myself. I know my sister reads mine every day, and she was starting to piss me off with the party - but I didn't write about it. I just bitched about it to you in person. :)

My blog is more update-y than vent-y, so I'm okay with censoring myself.

~rachel~ said...

I censor and am getting tired of it. Mine started to update about Rowan so I gave it to Mike's mom, but now i feel like there is so much I can't say cause I know she reads it. I've actually thought of just starting a new one and she will just think I've stopped doing it!

SunnyD said...

Mmm, I know who reads mine most of the time. I've labeled certain users on my stat reader. And maybe, just maybe, I deliberately talk about stuff that I know will make certain people cringe.

It's what they get for lurking and thinking they're spying on me. :-P

As for censoring, I think knowing that certain people are reading and not saying thing is censoring yourself. So, yes... I admit I do either avoid certain subjects or water them down. But not entirely. If I'm angry about something, it comes out. No matter what. But if I know i just need to let something go (which I'm TERRIBLE at), I try to suck it up and put my big girl panties on.

Amy said...

I get the "what-ifs" too when I find out my parents have read my blog. I'm like, Oh crap, did I say something about them that I shouldn't have? But we have a pretty open relationship so if they get offended they'll just get over it.

Lavender Lemonade said...

My blog is 99% censored. I only put out there "select sound bytes of information". When it comes to my own personal stuff...I've always been hesitant to put anything in writing. It always comes back to bite me in the ass or I end up changing my mind and then I have to wipe the egg off my face. I do enough of that IRL that I try to avoid in blog-world. I was never a consistent diary-writer as a kid anyway.

makeup_girl said...

I posted a particular blog on my myspace page and it caused a lot of problems. After I started my new blogs, I sent emails to only my trusted friends letting them know about them. I also put the blog addresses on my facebook page, but since a person has to be approved as a friend to see that page, I can monitor who gets to see the blog address. I know it doesn't make the blogs completely private, but I don't think I'll be starting WWIII with anyone with these new blogs.

Jenna said...

Yes, I do...somewhat. I don't talk about my in-laws, or my job. I save that for live-interactions.

Can you email me, I have question for ya? Thanks.

Melissa said...

Hi Carrie! Too funny that you should write about this...if it makes you feel any better, I resigned from the school to homeschool my kids this year. So, vent away! :) We had a great experience at the school, but have been wanting to hs for a long time. If we ever do school again, we'd love to be back at WV. Maybe your blog (if you choose to keep it public) can be a place where I can go for WV updates! :)

Take care,

Melissa

The Fearless Freak said...

Hey, good for you! We talked about HS (and if we hadn't gotten one of my top 3 schools, we would have for K, at least) but I'm just not together enough for it. I'm way to lazy to push them to do much of anything so public school it is :)

I do plan to stay public, since I blog because I want other people to be exposed to my opinions on everything! :)

And I have no problem with conflict. I just wonder if people that have a conflict would actually say something and hash it out or just ignore it and me from then on.

Misc said...

I censor, sure. The hubby reads my site, so does my sister and other family members (I think). People from preschool. But really, I don't have to censor too much.

Though I'd really really like to write about what a big baby my husband is when he's sick (like yesterday & today - he has what Evan had). RF keep this under your hat - no fair whipping out this little gem on gaming night. :-)