One of the aspects to blogging for several years now that interests me most is the constant reminder that this blog is out there in the public domain, and that it represents me, who I am, at least to some extent. The audience for FML is pretty small but even still, I know that there are dozens of people whom I have never met, and probably never will, who know quite a bit about me and my family by reading what I’ve written here.

But this is not who I am, really. By this I mean, FML gives only a small and rather slanted view of me. I censor myself all the time; I constantly think when I am writing something here, “Should I say that, or say it that way? Am I revealing too much personal information? What would people think if they knew what I really thought about topic x? Is the perspective I convey balanced, fair? Am I truly adding something to “the conversation” about topic x, or only blathering?” And so on.

I know that I am not alone in contemplating these issues. To some extent, a personal blog is a facade (some might even call it a sham), only presenting to the world what the author wants others to see. The real me is much more complex, conflicted, and complicated than what is conveyed here. Does that mean I am being dishonest? Does it mean that I am not transparent? No, I don’t think so.

There are any number of reasons for me to think very carefully about what I reveal about myself in FML. People can quickly and easily find out more personal information about someone these days than ever before. I have had people ask me, for instance, why I would post pictures of my family on a public space, because that might be putting them in danger somehow, or make them targets of someone’s evil intentions. I realize that is a possibility. Another reason to be very careful about what I write here is that like it or not, complete strangers read this blog every day and some of them, at some point or another, will make judgments about me that might affect my future job prospects or whether I will have other kinds of opportunities available to me. This point was forcibly driven home to me when I was interviewed somewhere and one of the people interviewing me mentioned finding this blog and how she was able to learn more about me than she could possibly ask, legally, in the interview.

I don’t have any complete answers to these questions of how much or how little I should really reveal about myself. Personal blogs are a new means of communication and often their value is in the platform they can provide for someone’s thoughts and opinions to be disseminated. Some people in the really small realm of library bloggers have lamented the fact that bloggers are becoming noticeably more reticent about sharing or stating what they really think. I lament this, too, but I also know that there are very good reasons for this trend (if it could even be deemed a trend).

Ok, enough navel-gazing for now.