I just received a comment on my last post by a concerned family member who is concerned about our safety. I have never meant to put anyone in harm's way by writing about them, but this blog was meant to be a sort of journal for me so that one day my children can read it and know what their life was like when they were younger. I always wished that my mother had kept more journals, so this is my way of giving that to my children. I find that typing is way faster than writing by hand and since I have to spend alot of time at the computer anyways, I figure I can kill two birds with one stone.
This blog is listed privately for those of you who are concerned, but if you still have issues with it, let me know and I will take your names out of the blog. If your name is mentioned in here, please feel flattered and not offended as it means that you are important to me and to my children and so I feel as though you are worth mentioning. Another reason that I do post on this blog is so that my family and close friends can know what is going on in my life and in the lives of my children. I am not eloquent and sometimes my phrases don't even make sense because my brain goes faster than my mouth, but know that I am trying my best to write down the things (whether everyday, or momentus) that are happening in the lives of my family.
Again, if I have given you cause for concern, please contact me directly and we can work something out, otherwise know that I love you all and I love to talk about you.
skillet-baked macaroni and cheese
2 days ago
4 comments:
Interesting - this is something I've always worried about and felt torn about. I enjoy blogging and hate it when people make their blogs password protected. I also enjoy reading other random people's blogs - I've found so many people out there to relate to on different levels I would have never met if it weren't for the blogging world. However, I have always felt slightly concerned about putting stuff out there - like my children's names and faces etc. It would so easy for someone to figure out who we are and where we live.
What I have seen a lot of people do and still might do myself, is use nicknames or initials for people they are blogging about - mostly just children. Then you just have to be careful about how many details you put out there about where you live.
FYI - even if you've made it so your blog isn't available on search engines, that doesn't mean it's private. Your blog isn't password protected, which means that anyone can find it and read it - you might be surprised to find out how many people have come across your blog.
One more thing - I like your blog and feel like we are keeping in touch without chatting all the time! :)
Just occurred to me - am I an invited reader to your blog and that's why it doesn't look like it's private to me?
I have a friend who only lets invited readers onto his blog. If you're concerned, you might want to try something like that. I'm not sure how to set it up, but I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to find out.
I have another friend who makes up fake names for people on her blog. I did that for a while, but then I couldn't remember them all and it became too much trouble. Now I will occasionally use people's first names, but I try to avoid using last names. I don't know, I could probably be more secure.
It's true, that unless you password protect your blog it is available to anyone on the internet, it just isn't in blogger's search engine. I think that Brady's blog is publicly listed now, but, for a long time it wasn't and people still found it through searching google for Brady's Bunch. For me, I wanted people to know what life with a child with DS was really like, as so many people are out there looking when they get results from prenatal testing and they are making decisions about what to do, or searching for information about Ds. But, I, in no way, wanted to put my family at risk, and that is why I use initials for my other kids and try oh so hard, through posts and comments, not to say where we live, although I think most people know, as most people who read my blog are fellow DS club members from other DS boards. I also post stuff so Grandma and Grandpa can keep up to date and see pics, although I dont usually post that many pictures of my other kiddos, just cause I'm paranoid.
It's easy to change your settings to an invited readers only blog, a simple click of the mouse and an email to your readers.
Hugs!
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