Today, reading a blog I like, Jezebel, I came across this article which is the cover story of the New York Times' Sunday Magazine this week.
"Exposed" is written by Emily Gould, who was an editor for a while on Gawker (Jezebel's parent site) which describes itself as "Media Gossip and Pop Culture Around the Clock". Emily also had a couple blogs of her own, and after a few weeks of working at Gawker, became well-known on the blogging circut as well as the internet at large. "Exposed" is a frightening expose (duh) about what can happen if you put too much of your life online. It basically articulates all of the reasons blogging is a bad idea, after extolling a few of its virtues (enabling a forum for narcissism, and a semi-permanent very public record of one's life/brain/goings on).
It's not like I think I'm going to become wildly famous via a blog that my parents and a few friends read-- but it is scary to think about what can happen if you put too much of yourself out there. I think my generation is pretty nonchalant about Facebook/myspace at this point, but I'd be willing to bet we all know someone who's had a bad experience with one or both as a result of oversharing. This article was a little discouraging at this point in my fledgling blogging, but I suppose it's a good reminder sooner, rather than later.
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