Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Online blogger coffee, part 2

Thanks for coming to our Blogger Coffee! I'm so glad I'm not the only one whose whole family doesn't read my blog. Y'all know I don't post anything embarassing, but I'd hate to quit sharing my super secret gift sources online.

Mrs. Fussypants and I were laughing about things we wish we'd known about blogging, right from the start. Did you use a silly pen name and live to regret it? What would you do differently, if you were starting your blog all over again?

26 comments:

Dirkey said...

I still like my pen name so thats not one of them, but I feel like I'm still trying to find my groove. I'd like to say I should have waited to start my blog but I think I needed to do it to find my groove. I'm so happy I've done it and found so many like minded people!

ashley said...

If I could start over again, I would be anonymous. I just recently got burned very badly by someone I know finding out about my blog. It also seems that people take an offhanded comment and get really offended. I don't care as much if it's some random Internet person, but if it's a friend then I do care.

TheNormalMiddle said...

My whole family DOES read my blog. Including my mother in law. I'll leave it at that and let you decide what my mistake #1 was :)

I actually didn't tell my family about the blog. I won an award from the LA Times for best education blog and someone here found out about it, called our small town paper, and they did a feature story about me. So my motherinlaw reads about me in the local paper and wants to know immediately what a blog is and why I have one.

You can't make it up. This is how my family found my blog! And they read it everyday. I get comments like "you talk about YOUR parents all the time, but not much about us!" To which I'd like to answer, "If you can't say something nice...say nothing at all."

I've seriously considered switching names and ditching my blog so I can go incognito with the family, but, I'm tired and don't have it in me to start all over!

Karla Porter Archer said...

I don't think I'd do anything different... maybe a fun name, but that's it.

Blessings,
Karla

Anonymous said...

I don't think I would do anything different ... well, maybe choose a different name for our daughter. We call her Pookie online and people are always thinking we named her that. lol

Jeana said...

I wouldn't use my kids names or post pictures of them. I used to and switched midstream, taking down the pictures and changing their names to nicknames. But the nicknames are a little silly so it feels weird to use them when I'm writing something serious about them...But I didn't like the idea of using another "real name" that wasn't theirs. I called my son Big D because my mom calls him that sometimes, then after I had changed over 500 posts someone told me that's what her family calls diarrhea. Sigh.

Jenny's Vegcafe said...

I don't know. I'm still torn about putting up pictures of my children and letting people know their names.
My mother (when I made the mistake of telling her about my blog) read it and her only comment was a paranoid snap about how online perverts would steal my children.

Another reason I wish I was more anonymous with my blog. My FIL looks at my husbands blog all the time so I am always hoping he doesn't run across mine. Just in case I make really sure not to say anything I wouldn't want them to read. But, still.. I feel a little censored.

~Babychaser~ said...

I don't know if I would change anything or not. I really haven't been doing it that long. Sometimes I wish I weren't annonymous, but then I am thankful that my husband doesn't have that to worry about. (Seems I could be more personal with some of you if I weren't signing my pen name.) I hope everyone understands, but I still feel it is the wisest for now.

Laura said...

Oh, Jeana, that comment made me laugh out loud - about the Big D!! :)What a riot! Hey, you can't win them all. And I have to say I've never heard "it" referred to as that by anyone else before. So I think for the majority of folks, you're safe. :)

I am actually just starting my own blog. I have used real names and photos so far because I (at this point) have chosen to keep mine "invitation only" for privacy's sake. I have heard of all sorts of wild things happening out there (especially with children's pictures)and was uncomfortable with what "could" happen. The drawback is that I have to remeber to invite people and then they have to set up an account with Blogger in order to read mine. Although it only takes 2 seconds to set it up, I think for some of them that is a deterrent to reading along with me.

I love reading blogs where everyone has a screen name that is pithy or cute, but I didn't have any inspiration strike me yet for our family. If I ever open mine up to the world though, I think I would do that.

Anonymous said...

i started a blog specifically to let far-away relatives keep up with my family and see pics of my child. well now the inlaws (who live up the road) keep complaining that i dont have enough pictures of them posted on the blog. what?! i think that if they want pictures of themselves on the blog, they should start a blog themselves. maybe it was a mistake telling them about it, but i just will keep ignoring thier rude comments bc the rest of the family loves it.

Ann'Re said...

I also started the blog because we moved away from friends and family and I wanted a way for them to keep up with us. None of them read it.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have made a little bit more of an effort to be more anonymous.

Anonymous said...

My blogging experience has been pretty good so far. I mainly use it as a way to keep our out of state friends posted on all the wierd things that I used to share face-to-face. We live in a small town in ND, so the anonimity is pretty hard. But it's not a big deal. I don't think I am in any danger of having a crazy cult-like following!

Anonymous said...

My non-family blog is very new and like lindsey, I'd probably keep it a better secret from my mother in law. :) Though, I really don't want to come across as fake, I want my blog to reflect who I really am and I think knowing that my MIL will read what I write will in a way help me to do that.

Scribbit said...

I gave up and started using smiley faces. I swore I never would, but you just can't leave a comment and be sure that it's not taken too seriously without the help of one :) See what I mean?

TracyMichele said...

I think I would have came up with a more creative name for my blog. But.. it is what it is. ME.Unplugged. :)

LAUREN at Faith Fuel said...

I wrote a post on my blog called "Queen of Anonymity No More" because I realized how I am already out in the open, so to speak, once I started my blog.

Yea, my heart is open and out there. I can get a mean comment- although I haven't had one yet. But it's risk I take. I decided that if I want to be an author of a published book someday, then I need to take ownership for what I think and write, right now. My Blog is my book- and anyone can read it.

(Gulp). So Be it.

Barb said...

I have two blogs now which I wish that I had done from the beginning. I started out with a family blog, but found that a bit cumbersome at times because of my opinions. One of my sil encouraged me to start a second one which is really about me and where I am on my frugal journey. Unfortunately I still managed to get into hot water with my mil. It seems it's okay for her to express her opinion, but not okay for me to do so. Sigh. So I still have to somewhat edit myself. I did start out using real names for my kids and the occasional photo on my nonfamily blog, but switched to nicknames and hiding my kids' identities a bit which seems fake sometimes, but much safer.

Anonymous said...

I was delighted to see this post and have a chance to read such wonderful comments. I have 2 blogs. One for sharing with friends and family who live far away. Then another for sharing thoughts and ideas. Although my computer had some trouble. And I have not been able to find the software since moving to reinstall so that I can upload pictures. I have found other way's to have pitures on my blog.

I have found inspriations from reading others blogs. After we moved, I found that I was lacking in friends. When I would read others blogs I would some how feel lifted up. I am finding that it is hard to connect with others these day's, as we are all so busy raising children. It is nice to read a blog, it almost feels like I have had contact with another adult.

I still want to make changes to the way each of my blogs look.

Anonymous said...

My siblings and one of my counsins read my blog but not my parents. And that's only because they would freak out if they did read it. LOL

I made my blog private this past spring because I got some weird comments.

I came to read your blog because of it's frugal nature. I've embraced the frugal way of living speared on by a huge car repair that left me reeling.

You've inspired in my holiday/seasonal decorating to be creative without buying out my local Target store. I also love your dance with Tupperware - you can find me jumping up and down in a thrift store when I land on Tupperware!

Jennifer said...

This coffee is so much fun!

I posted my answer here:
http://www.familymusings.com/2007/11/blogger-coffee-part-2.html

Jennifer

Renee said...

I'm another one who has a family blog for the faraway grandparents, a hobby blog, and now a frugal blog. I wish the family blog was a little more private in terms of the kids names. We have been very careful keeping our location secret on it though.

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

I'm still trying to find my niche, I think. I was pleased to come up with what I think was a fairly interesting blog name (my hubby LOVES it). It kind of sounds like my blog should be all about being married to a Star Wars stormtrooper, though. It's really about MY life; a stormtrooper hubby just happens to be part of it. I never want to be one of those bloggers whose identity is all about being a wife or mommy (which I'm not) or whatever. I just want to be ME.

I don't mind the pen names, although I did have to explain my husband's. I think his is silly, but he thought it was a super-cool name for online video gaming, so I use it. As for my name, my only concern is that there are plenty of other Ewokgirls out there in cyberspace. I wouldn't want to be confused with any of them, especially as some that I've run across are not exactly virtuous types.

I don't really need to use pen names, but it just makes me feel a little better. Considering I have pictures of us up, it probably seems a little silly, but at least if someone does an online search using my or my husband's names, they won't find my blog. I'm not sure why it would matter to me if they did, but it gives me a tiny feeling of security.

Michelle Smiles said...

When I started my blog, I had no idea if anyone would read it. I made the decision to put myself out there with a good bit of honesty - but without revealing too many identifying details of our lives (places of work, last name, specific area where we live - city only, etc). As my readership started to grow, I felt like I "knew" many of my readers so I was still comfortable with the photos and first names. As I got more readers that I didn't "know" I had moments of questioning myself. But I decided that I liked the way I blog and I didn't want to have to be vague and use nicknames. So I left it as is.

50s Housewife said...

I'm so glad I found this post! I am just starting my blogging adventure and I have been wondering how open I should be about names, location, etc.

I started my blog because I enjoy reading blogs so much and thought it would be fun to have my own. It's a nice way to interact with other people and share interesting tidbits. My husband, kids and my best friend know about it.

Any other advice for a brand new blogger?

Anonymous said...

I wish that I had labeled all of my comments from the start. I didn't know to do this and now I have to go back through and sort them all into categories. Do yourself a favor and label them right away and get in the habit o fit!

I had to laugh aloud at Jeana's comment and poor Lindsey (hey, that's my name too!) in her situation with her MIL! I don't think my in-laws really have time to read my blog all the time even if they know it's there.
My pen names might seem goofy, especially to those who know us in day-to-day life, but I like them and know the reasons I picked them!

Tammy said...

Well, there's nothing funky about my user name. :) I don't know that I would do anything differently.