Friday, March 28, 2008

Uh Oh


There is a really funny blog that I read sometimes by a hilarious and sarcastic writer named Crabmom. She is crabby and funny and entertaining. You can find a link to her over there on the left. And then today, she had this post about writing on the internet, which gives me pause:

"Every foul word, expletive, personal revelation, indiscretion, is there in perpetuity. I think about this quite a lot, peeps. As do all the bloggers I love. For some, the degree of privacy is far less stringent or Victorian than mine. Many mom-bloggers use their kids' names, photos, and record intimate details of life as mother and wife. I'm not saying you can't do this successfully or legitimately and decently, but I choose not to. I also choose not to write about my kid's bowel movements (poop! ha ha! How FUNNY!) or say things that might, later, cause her shame and anger. I realize that no matter what I write she will probably be embarrassed and annoyed by her mother's musings down the road...but I certainly do my best to respect the privacy of someone who has no say in what her mother chooses to record about her online."
Yikes. I really hadn't considered this. Do you think this counts for the non-professional writer too? I believe I am able to delete this from the internet forever, at any moment. Also, its not like his address is here, so people aren't going to be tracking him down. Will he grow up scarred and bitter and embarrassed by this? Do I even have to tell him at all? Should I make the whole thing password protected and only let the people who will love him anyway see it? Its a moral dilemma people.
Also, I am uber lazy, so I have stolen today's photo. Thanks sissypants! Love the stealth camo baby.

3 comments:

wenmei said...

I worry about the same thing. Actually, I make it a point never to use anyone's last name on my blog, but unfortunately the same is not true for myself or the Z-Man. Hmmmm.

Loren said...

I woudln't worry about it too much. Knowing his father, he will have lots more to be embarrased about that this :). But the no last name policy is probably a good one to avoid future searches and all. Someday, he will appreciate the poop stories! He might be 30 and have his own kid by then (yikes!) but there will be a time

Jo said...

The next generation already live in a digital world, I think we worry too much about the risk of it all. As extended families grow and spread out all over the country it seems like a service to your child to keep his sweet antics in everyone's heart. Anyway, I bet the CEOs of most companies once filled their drawers with enough vigor that their mom felt the need to tell a story about it...