Wednesday, January 20, 2016

How anonymous are you online?

As a blogger I probably share too much about myself online. Now that I'm a bit older I don't spill my guts on the interwebs quite like I used to, but my face is still plastered all over this blog. 

My friend Fiona recently started a blog (I 100% take credit for inspiring her) and when she posted a picture of me in a blog post this is what it looked like.

Paraffin treatment or cartoon surgery?

I laughed because I look like I came straight out of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I thought Fiona did it for fun but she did it in case I didn't want my face on her blog. I thought that was very nice of her but assured her that I don't mind my face on her blog. 

I think if I had a government job or worked with kids I would be more careful about posting photos of myself on a blog. One rule I do have is that I never post about clients on my blog. That is absolutely confidential and I could get in big trouble for that. I have come across a couple of blogs where I'm pretty sure if the blogger's employer found the blog, they would be fired. It's not worth it.

Some bloggers share everything. I'm talking semi nude photos of themselves or their children. If someone wants to pose topless and post that online, well that's their business but when I see naked pictures of kids on instagram or on a blog I cringe. There are a lot of creeps on the internet and what might seem like a cute, harmless photo to me and you could be seen and used in a bad way by some internet perv.

The worst is when you're reading a blog and then BAM topless photo. Yikes, I wasn't expecting that. The best part was when a blogger's mother commented on a post with a topless photo of the blogger. I then imagined my mother seeing me like that online and died from embarrassment at the thought of it. 

There are times when I wonder what a blogger looks like *cough cough* Gia and Spark *cough cough*, but I understand why they would want to be semi-anonymous online. There's a lot of crazy people out there! It also gives them an air of mystery. What do they actually look like?

11 comments:

  1. I couldn't imagine posting a topless photo of myself on my blog! Or talking about work at all really. I deal with work everyday, I sure as hell don't want to write about it.

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    1. Good point. When I get home I want to unwind, not think about work.

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  2. It was fun, so let's say my motives to edit were 50/50.
    I have had other blogs in the past, this is a good revival that you get credit for creating.

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  3. You do have to be careful. Oh I'm pretty sure Gia looks exactly like her cartoon picture.

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  4. I totally agree with you on the naked child pics. It's just innocent and cute for the family/friends, but there are so many creeps out there that it isn't safe. Also, I think the kids might be embarrassed when they get older to know that any and everyone saw their naked toddler butt.

    I have a rule about posting about my job as well. When I was younger and worked at Pizza Hut, I didn't care as much because I didn't think the job mattered. Then I started working for a big insurance company (and now a large resort company) and I'm more worried about breach of personal information.

    There are definitely lines that we have to draw as bloggers and some people really do share too much!

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    1. I remember you blogging about Pizza Hut! Guess we've been blog reading eachother for a while. :)

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  5. I have occasionally shared photos of myself with commenters/other bloggers who I feel I know relatively well after months of online contact. Therefore, you're going to have your curiosity satisfied; I just emailed you a couple of pictures of me. :-)

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    1. I feel honored :) it's like Batman taking off his bat mask.

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  6. I wasn't going to show my face on my blog, and I still cringe every time I do, but as everyone else shows theirs on Instagram or Facebook or whatever, why not? I'm always careful to not give away any info about my partner because they have a high profile job here in the UK.

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