dianaschnuth

Yes, it’s the middle of the day, and I’m blogging. I’m on my lunchbreak, sitting in the abandoned foodcourt of Portside, tapping away on my iPhone. I point this out so I won’t get busted later for blogging during work hours.

See, my direct supervisor is also one of my friends on Facebook. There have been times when I wondered if that was a smart move, since my Facebook is basically a Tumblr account, aggregating all my blog entries, shared items from Google Reader, favorites from YouTube, Flickr photos, etc. I think, though, that having her in the loop keeps me from blogging anything I might regret later, like publicly admitting when my sick day is actually a “mental health day,” or Tweeting something unsavory about work, or talking smack about just about anybody (at work or otherwise). My Mom reads my blog and Facebook, too, but I’d be more concerned about losing future favorable references or getting myself into professional trouble than pissing off my Mom.

Besides my boss, many of my friends read my blog, so I try to keep some things under wraps. I don’t use this as my “diary” like I did back in 2002, just because it’s more widely read. I can’t just say, “Something So-and-so said today made me really uncomfortable,” or “I really wish So-and-so would stop calling,” although I’m not afraid to say that I wish our friends (read: Aaron’s friends) would call and want to get together more often.

Something else to consider is the fact that I use the same username on every forum and site I’m on, so I always have to be on guard. Well, not so much “on guard” as just aware of the image I’m putting out there. This is the Internet, after all, and even locked posts have a way of becoming more public via email or IM, if someone sees the need.

Am I worried? No, not really. If I were, I’d use something more elusive as my alias, and I certainly wouldn’t use my full name as my domain. I mean, I already got my debit card number stolen once, and I survived that. I don’t publish my SSN online or anything, and I’m not popular enough on the internet that people will look up my address and stalk me, or try to break in while I’m gone, or follow me to work.

I’m comfortable with my level of transparency. In fact, I kind of like it. It’s refreshingly honest. This is me; take it or leave it.