Although I write a lot about my personal life, husband, kids, moments, etc on my blog, I have always tried to maintain a guarded identity from people I don’t know personally. Privacy is a major concern for me, not just mine but others’ also.
Time and again, I’ve written about people I know in general. It has been about my equation with them, my experiences with them or my personal opinion about something regarding them. In every case I’ve refrained from naming anyone. I’ve always used initials or passing references. I have tried not to offend anyone and hopefully succeeded.
Yet, I was taken aback when some time back a friend of mine, who isn’t even a regular on my blog, while having a simple conversation with me suddenly blurted out, “Hey, you aren’t going to make me the subject of your next post right? I read what you wrote about so and so. Don’t you get worried he/she might read it and not like it?”.
For a moment I didn’t know what to say. I have been friends with this girl despite the fact that she has been mean and rude to me at times. I have been less of a friend and more of a shrink to her(without getting paid for the torture😈). I thought that I needed to give her a chance, hence the bother to tolerate. Quite frankly, I didn’t consider her worth mentioning.
This incident left me wondering though. In today’s world of social media, should a casual mention on a not-so-popular blog be a point of concern for anyone? When the readers don’t know me, what chance is there for them to know some xyz person who’s name isn’t even clear on my blog? Considering they do know them, I haven’t exactly tried to start a World War here right?
More so, blogging is my choice and reading my blog or not is others’ choice. This is my personal space and I reserve the right to express myself openly and uninhibitedly here. I consider this as my diary to jot down details about events that I’d like to remember later in my life and about people who affected me in some or the other way. Understandably, they are comprised of shades of black, white and grey.
I don’t go around telling people that I have a blog or what is it about. Sometimes people in the know somehow stumble upon it and follow it silently before informing me about it. Thankfully, till date no one has confronted me or complained to me as to why I wrote about him/her.
It is true that we are always on the lookout for topics to blog about even when we aren’t actively blogging. This however doesn’t mean that we’re prepared to jeopardise our relations with anyone in real life. This virtual world might give us some temporary respite, but we belong in the real world. Everything said here needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.