Putting Oneself Out There

Erica Perez is confronting a truth that all bloggers face.

I have a love-hate relationship with my blog. I enjoy writing with this voice, and in many cases I get more recognition from the blog than from my newspaper stories. But occasionally a news source tells me my blog post was “cute,” and it feels like a bit of a slap. “Cute” does not match “serious reporter.” Sometimes I think I can be both, and other times I think I need to scrap the blog.

Gould crossed lines I’d never cross, broached subjects I’d never blog about and seemed less than apologetic about it. But any kind of first-person blogging is, in some people’s view, oversharing, and this cautionary tale made me take stock of my own openness.

As a blogger, one must decide how much of oneself one is willing to put out there.  Longtime readers of this blog know that I have put a fair amount of myself out there.  I share with you the love I have for my wife and children.  I share with you the pain I feel for those I’ve lost.  I share with you the whimsical musings of a fat geek in Wisconsin.  But I do have a line.  There’s plenty that y’all don’t know and will never know. 

The struggle is that the more personal the blog, the more the readers can identify with the blogger.  But personality comes with risk.  I advise all would-be bloggers to type into the medium with open eyes and low expectations. 

1. Ah.  And here I thought this post would be about dating.

   Erica Perez is good, like her blog.

   Posted by phel on May 26, 2008 at 1857 hrs




2. Sometimes I wonder about bloggers who write about themselves like their cleaning service, and what they buy at the grocery store, etc. It is like watching an endless loop of their vacation pictures and I don’t even know them, or care to.

   Posted by (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on May 26, 2008 at 2039 hrs




3. I’ve been trying to think about something to say about the story that inspired her post for a while now and in the end I decided that there was nothing to say.

   Posted by elliot on May 27, 2008 at 1431 hrs