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Blogging and Fatherhood
Submitted by tony on May 27, 2008 - 2:11pm.
I've been wondering where that "line" is between privacy/safety versus authenticity/rawness in blogging about fatherhood and the every day happenings of my son. On the one hand, "daddy blogging" is fun, gives me a chance to meet other dads in the same shoes, gives me ideas for better parenting, is a great creative outlet, and keeps family/friends posted on where we're at. On the other hand, as my child grows up, doesn't he deserve to choose how open/private his life is on the net? And are there any safety concerns (i.e. I don't use my son's real name, I don't provide address/phone)?
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Re: Blogging and Fatherhood
I am blogging my wifes pregnancy of our twins, it is a lot of fun, however, I have incountered some "critics" who think there is too much information posted. My feeling is on this: I think somethings are better left private and each family has it own measure, standard or filter for what is too much and what is private.
My wife and I struggled to get pregnant, and we needed help. In my blog I detailed the process of how we got pregnant in a educational (I think) sort of way. I did not discuss what goes on behind the closed doors, other than eludding to facts about the procedure that anyone can learn online at wedmd. So for the critics: if it is too much than don't read it, but hold your tongue unless your opinion is solicited.
on the position related information shareing, I think Tony has it right. If it is not pertinate to the story do produce it in writing. Like in a hospital, everything is on a need to know basis, privacy policies and HIPPA protect patient information so as a blogger you decide what the readers need to know. Maybe check out some of the guidelines hospitals use and the measures they take to insure privacy for their patients. It is a good system to use when giving any information anywhere.
Related but not directly.
Related but not directly.
A friend of mine was adopting a kid many years ago. I was asking him about it, and he answered some obvious questions. But, then he declined more questions. He said that he didn't want his son to grow up with the family-friends around him knowing more about his birth-family than he did. He wanted to leave some secrets for his son to share if and when he wanted to.
I thought it showed a lot of respect for the independence of his son, even as an infant, to have some stories that don't need to be made public.
-John
My Philosophy
Being a geek in both hobby and career, I like to think I am a lot more in tune with the Internet and security. One of the major topics, especially in recent years, is security. Even places like Facebook have been forced to institute security precautions because of predators that were cyber-stalking youngsters.
I have a couple of blogs myself. One is my geek blog where everything technical goes, and there there is my "everything else" blog. I post family happenings, everyday thoughts and more into that one. One of my first and foremost rules though is "NO NAMES!" I have written about family, friends and others, but have not really mentioned the names of the people I am speaking about. I believe its a good practice to keep that air of annonymity, while maintaining the reader's curiousness about the posting.
Just my .02.
Totally know what you mean
I actually stopped blogging about parenting for awhile for that reason, and started making an effort to make posts more about me...and less about what I figured Edan was thinking/feeling. I figure if she wants to blog about that, she'll be able to in a year or two. :)
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