Wednesday, October 7, 2009

A Year of Bloggery

I've been blogging for almost a year now. I can't believe it hasn't been longer. Blogging - and reading blogs - is such a routine part of my life now that I can't imagine how I slogged through my day without it! I've met writers from all over the world and read a lot of great information about the publishing industry I wouldn't have come across otherwise.

I have learned one very critical lesson when it comes to blogging, which is this: be careful, be very careful, what you put out there. Because even if you think it's private; that your blog doesn't have any readers; or that no-one will ever find your rants or scribbles... you can depend on this: someone, somewhere, will. And it will be the person you least want to! Yes, that all sounds very sinister and cloak-and-dagger. But I can assure you it's true.

I had another blog I started a year ago, mainly as a reaction to a part-time job I had to make some money while writing. The job was OK -- but what really irked me was how I was treated by some of the clients. So I started an anonymous blog. (You can see where this is going...). Someone stumbled across it, put two and two together and let's just say I didn't work there much longer!

Naively, I'd stuck my head in the sand, thinking no-one would ever run across it and hey, if someone did, it was anonymous anyway! It was a great outlet for me to get my own back, and I didn't think through the what ifs properly.

So, on the anniversary of my entry into the blogosphere, I urge my fellow bloggers to be cautious about their public writings - or, at least, be prepared for the consequences!

3 comments:

Debbie Ng said...

Le Mash!! Here's a salute to starting a new blog and writing about the former experience :)

Kate said...

Hmmm that worries me if my boss ever discovers I enjoy mocking him on a regular basis I might have to go and work in a normal company.

Good post

Kate x

Iota said...

Found your blog from Expat Mum's post today.

I couldn't agree with this more. I upset a friend by quoting her and (slightly) ridiculing what she had said - and it was totally anonymous. She didn't know about the blog, but a chain of two friends passed the news of its existence on. By a complete coincidence of timing, this happened within 10 days of THE post being written, so unfortunately it was in the top 4 or 5. The blog was 2 years old and nearly 200 posts long. What are the chances of her having discovered it just at that time?

Maybe I shouldn't even be writing this comment... Don't refer to it if you come to my blog... Help, now I'm really defensive!