I've been absent from the blogging world for quite awhile mostly because I've been busy, but any thoughts of blogging again have also been discouraged by my concerns about blog safety. The local news recently did a story about blog safety. They focused on one family who received nasty comments on their blog (it later turned out to be a relative with their panties in a wad hiding behind the mask of "anonymous") and another family who had a picture of their son lifted from their blog and then placed on another blog with a swastika added to his forehead. The station advised against posting any pictures of your children on blogs and remembering that once it's posted, it's out of your hands. Much to my frustration, they didn't say anything about the different security options Blogger provides like private blogs. But while discussing this with a friend, she told me that anyone can gain access to a private blog by spoofing it. According to her, there isn't any real blogger security other than the fact that my blog is just one of thousands or millions that some weirdo could choose from.
So blogging friends, I'm wondering what you think about all this. You already know I'm paranoid, but I suppose I want to know if I'm alone. I'd hate to stop posting pictures, but I'd hate for anything really bad to happen. But then again, what is the really bad? The news made it sound like horrible things will happen to those who post pictures, but other than the two stories mentioned, they weren't very specific about what those horrible things might be.
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7 comments:
I have 3 things to say:
1) Do everything in YOUR power to protect your children.
2) Weigh the risk/rewards of having a blog
and
3) Don't live in fear
May not answer your question, but this the conclusion I've come to...It's a different answer for everyone.
That's the same article that I read that helped me to decide to go private. I don't think I would be as concerned if I didn't have pictures up of my children, but since I did, I didn't want my little hobby of blogging to be a reason for something potentially bad happening. I also didn't want to worry about identity theft. It seems easier now than ever before. I think you've met your match as far as paranoia goes. :)
I think this blog is fine being public because you don't have a lot of personal pictures or details on it.
Aliesha, that's great advice except that it doesn't help me make any decisions. You're supposed to tell me exactly what to do. :) If I were to play it completely safe I don't think I would ever post a picture again or even use Snapfish. When I think about #2, I figure my friends put up with my writing but it's the photos that are the easiest to enjoy. So maybe I should never blog about my children?
Lisa, I should also say that I don't worry too much about this blog because I've been careful about photos and info. But I don't care as much about this blog either. Glad to know I'm not alone.
Oh man, there have been some times about this on the nook. Have you been following it?
Here's my take--if people want to steal my identity, my children, my pictures, whatever, they will do it with or without my help. It really would take some doing to get it off my blog. And there are pictures of my kids EVERYWHERE--Flickr, my blog, picasa, other friends blogs, etc. If they were models, and they were in magazines, how is that different? My name is in the phone book, my kids in the school directories and memory books, sometimes even in the newspaper. Why is it we are so afraid of blogs, but we will happily have our children photographed for the paper?
This goes to the heart of all security vs. living a normal life. Do you let your kids play outside--even in your own fenced in backyard? Do you not say their names out loud at the park, and watch your back as you come home? Or are you so afraid of what may happen that you keep them in? How is it fair to the kids? Do you keep yourself unlisted? Do you make your blogs private or stay away from using names, birthdays, pictures, etc? Or do you just make your stories and pictures available to your friends and family members, which is what a blog is for, and hope for the best?
I am for living my life and hoping for the best. Sure, I've had some strange anonymous comments (disgruntled family members, I'm fairly certain), some spamish things, and I have on occasion take off a picture I thought might be a little iffy (Ethan in his underpants), but so far, the benefits have outweighed the risks for me.
There are some reasons to be private, I'd say, and hey, if you feel more comfortable being private, then that is worth something. If it's keeping you up at night, do it. Otherwise, don't let other people scare you into stressing out.
ummmm . . . so there's my two cents!
Cami, thanks for pointing me to the discussion on the nook. Your insights and those on the nook were interesting. The truth is, I tend to be a little more carefree than I've let myself be in the blogging world. I know my kid will one day eat dog poop and other than the fact that I think it's disgusting, I don't worry about it.
My big frustration with all this talk about blog security is so much of it is anecdotal. Most people know that you can never really be anonymous on the web and if you blog about your job it's a great way to get fired but does that mean that posting pictures of my kid is a great way to attract weirdos. I don't think so and yet I'm not sure I want to take the chance. I'm sure the local station is hyping the scary to give their story relevancy and improve their ratings, so again I'm stuck with wondering what the risk really is. Clearly this is a decision I'll have to figure out on my own.
At any rate, I do want to say that just because I have qualms doesn't mean that I'm critical of anyone else who posts pictures of their kids or uses their last name.
I just want to add that I do not think that people who have pictures of their kids on private blogs is making a mistake. That would be completely hypocritical of me since I had mine public for 3 years before just recently going private. It was first and foremost a personal feeling I had that we needed to go private.
So, sorry if I sounded preachy. I'm not super good at expressing myself.
oops, I meant to write people with pics of their kids on PUBLIC bogs, not private.
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