Personal vs Private:

Express Expose Yourself?

Throughout this year, I have come across many different posts about whether personal information that can be found online should be considered private. (Look at Jules' mention of anonymity and name choice on that last one.)

The most recent one was over at Connecting the Dots just yesterday. Mike wonders "why every other generation is so obsessed with secrecy and self-imposed isolation." I think this idea probably is connected to the Western (and particularly American) near-worship of the individual, often at the expense of the group.

But "personal" and "private" don't mean the same thing. The difference isn't professional/personal, at least not when you're blogging; it's public/private. Like it or not, when you share information with the public, it becomes public information, no matter how personal it may be. So it is wise to be judicious about what you share - especially if you choose not to give out your name because you're concerned about unpleasant fallout from what you write. It is NOT that hard to find out someone's identity.

There's definitely something to be said against feeling like you have to choose between either hiding your blog or not blogging at all. On the other hand, no one is ever completely "transparent." It's not actually possible to share every single detail about your life (at least not as far as I know).

We all make choices about what we decide to share and what doesn't need to be shared. I don't often tell other teachers about my role-playing games. Maybe there's a little bit of "THEY'RE ALL GONNA LAUGH AT YOU!" to it, but mostly it's because I don't think they'd 'get it.'

I do not discuss lesson planning with my Sunday School class because that isn't the right setting. But I don't really see that as self-censorship. Responding to different situations or environments in different ways is not "a lack of authenticity." It's finesse.

Or possibly it's modesty.

So, how do you choose what to publish and what to keep private?