On Saturday, I had my first speaking engagement at Bloggy Boot Camp in San Francisco. I was going to do this whole elaborate presentation with Powerpoint and all of the bells and whistles. I decided to do a handout and speak/storytell about the subjects that I outlined. I stumbled a little here and there, and I may have talked a little too fast at times. But, I think it went over pretty good and I got my points across. I have had some great feedback and e-mails already, but I wanted to share my outline in a post.
Photo by modchik
PRIVACY and YOUR BLOG
Privacy, tracking visitors, and more about keeping your personal info personal, while still blogging authentically.
TEN TIPS TO REMEMBER WHEN THINKING
OF YOUR PERSONAL PRIVACY
1. Real Names
- Do you use your real name? Last name?
- Do you use your family member’s names?
- Do you use examples of people you know (IRL) In Real Life on your blog?
- Do you have permission to use this information?
2. Location
- Do you talk about where you live? Actual city, state?
- Do you talk about vacations, events, before you go to them?
- Do you use location based web applications?
- Twitter, Whrrl, Foursquare
3. Blog Tracking Programs
- Do you have a stat tracking program installed on your site?
- Google Analytics, StatCounter, Sitemeter
- Have you ever tracked an IP address?
- Do you know how to track and IP address?
- Previous comments, IP tracking sites
4. Photographs
- Do you post pictures of your family? Your kids? Your house? Your neighborhood?
- Do you watermark your photos?
- Do you post “birthday party” or event pictures with other kids in them?
5. Content
- What is too personal?
- Search engines and your content?
- When you hit “publish” it is there forever, sometimes even if you delete
6. Facebook
- Do you have privacy settings “set” on your account?
- How do you select and approve “friends”?
7. Domain Registrations
- Do you have your own domain(s)?
- Are they registered private?
- Check Who Is?
8. Cyber Stalkers and Trolls?
- Do you have a troll/stalker policy?
- Have you ever had a troll problem?
- How far would you let it go?
9. Comments
- At what point do you close comments?
- Have you ever closed comments?
10. Telling People About Your Blog
- Have you told family, friends, co-workers, playdates?
- Do you regret people knowing or telling them?
- Have you had negative experiences because of it?
I may or may not do all of these things. These are just some good points to think about when you are blogging. After blogging for three years, my thoughts on some things have changed. I have loosened up in some areas, and I have totally locked down others. What ever you choose to do with your privacy and your blog is your opinion, and only yours. Because really, it is your blog.
Thank you woman for posting this…I was hoping you would.
Great presentation!
Mad Woman behind the Blog recently posted..Bloggy Boot Camp reviewa series
Good topic. I struggle with this one as I am a very open person and I honestly don’t think I’m interesting enough for someone to want to stalk me, but I do take some sensible precautions. I don’t put my last name or where I work on my blog. My name is probably unique in all the world and someone would be able to pinpoint me in 2.5 seconds, and my (very large & recognizable) company has very strict internet policies, so I don’t want to be on their grid. Other than that, I don’t worry too much about my on-line privacy.
AdriansCrazyLife recently posted..MoneyMatters- Time to Refi
Thanks for posting this. I use first names on my blog mainly because I tried the nickname thing and kept screwing it up and forgetting. I do need to figure out the watermark thing.
Lana recently posted..This parenting thing
Thank you so much for this post and for your contribution at Boot Camp. You gave me a lot to think about!
I liked this post up over on my Everyday Mommy blog where I’m also hosting a Bloggy Boot Camp Post Link-Up opportunity. Stop on by when you get the chance!
I’m looking forward to seeing all your photos!
Everyday Kathy recently posted..Bloggy Boot Camp A bacony inquiry to end the week
Julie-
Your presentation was great…I do some of this and some I do not do and some of these things I never even considered. Definitely gave me some things to think about! Thanks.
Holly
Holly L recently posted..Something Old- Something New- Grab the Crew- and the Gorilla Glue!-CLOSED
This is FANTASTIC!!
There are too many mom bloggers who don’t think about these things and post their kids names, tweet with their location and other such things. They need to take a moment to think about the repercussions of what they are posting.
Alana Morales recently posted..Zombie Post Monday – That WAHM Buzz
what a great talk and so great to meet you finally and now you know both sisters.
REALLY really wish I could have been present for this! I deal with this stuff ALL DAY LONG. I am semi-anonymous, have had my fair share of stalkers and trolls, and get burnt out so easily.
Mojito Maven recently posted..ordinary life
We post our names and our town– not our address. I don’t post pictures or stories about people we know IRL without getting their permission. I always ask first and rarely even post photos of them.
But I have a handful of trolls and stalkers that won’t go away and always seem to be out to make life difficult. Fortunately, I also have their addresses thanks to IP address tracking.
I’m interested in what a troll/stalker policy is? Can you explain more?
The problem with this is that you probably don’t really have their address because of static IP’s, anonymouse, and the fact that almost all East coast users are routed through a server in Herndon, VA or nearby. So a user in Atlanta could really be in Macon, or even Florida. Frustrating!
It is frustrating, but many people make the mistake of commenting anonymously when they have commented under their real name/website before, which is trackable…
Wanna hear something really funny? Someone else used my email address and posted under my name here. And I got the reply. “Super awesome security for the win!!!”
So weird….
I struggled with using my daughters name all the time! I just recently started using it. Though I’m still not sure. ARGH! All the people I talk about it in real life do give me permission to write about them in my blog. I’ve also made sure that any address connected with my blog is my husbands office address.
This was a GREAT post!!!
Theresa recently posted..Back to school advice- from a few Moms who ROCK!
You were GREAT Julie! And this is such an important topic, as other commenters have already said. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with all of us!
I smiled at the irony of your speaking topic and the “recently visited” widget on your blog. You always know when stalker is around now
ha ha! I posted the pic of you presenting on my Flickr BBC set! Hope you like it!
Nice job BTW, great information thanks for sharing your pears of wisdom you are a valuable resource to BBC!
Lindsey (aka modchik) recently posted..A Juicy Bite
or PEARLS of wisdom… oh I love what hours of editing pics does to the brain!
Lindsey (aka modchik) recently posted..A Juicy Bite
ALL I could think of was those Pearl Tampons when I saw this…#editingphotostoo….
Well I had those too.. the biotch found me SF
Lindsey (aka modchik) recently posted..A Juicy Bite
That is a really interesting bunch of points about privacy. Something to think about.
I use my own real first name (but not last name)
I use nicknames for my kids, husband and where needed, their friends.
Many of my RL family and friends read my blog. I don’t mind. It keeps me honest.
I say where I live in terms of city and country.
I don’t have a link to my facebook page from my blog (but FB friends can access my blog from FB.
I do put birthday party photos up, but all my friends know that if they come to my parties they end up on “the Blog”
I do not identify their kids by name.
I spotted this on twitter and thought I’d have a look.
Fo some reason your links are showing up invisible. Not sure if it’s meant to look like that or if its a malfunction (at my end or yours??)
thanks!
regards Simone
xx
Simone recently posted..Loving- NOT Loving in My World
My links are light in color, but they look different on each different internet browser.
This is a great post – and these are definitely good points. I’m sure you did a fab job at Bloggy Bootcamp. I’d be incredibly nervous.
Thanks for these tips!
Great tips in there girl! Wish I could’ve been there to see the presentation live! Get your booty to SD!
Mama Mary recently posted..shots and strikes
Did I really just have an exclamation point at the end of every sentence? I guess I’m really excited tonight! At least I didn’t use all caps. You would’ve heard me from up there.
Mama Mary recently posted..shots and strikes
I have a problem with over-using the exclamation point too!!! It blame it on my ADD…
Wow – I hadn’t thought a lot about some of those on the list, you make me a little nervous..;)
I’m glad I made you nervous…I’m so mysterious like that.
I only wish I would have been there to see it in person. And to watch you eat hot wings.
Steph recently posted..Were so Classy-Redneck Flowbee Edition
I know…we always have St. George. You would have enjoyed watching me eat hot wings in my leopard print dress and red heels…just sayin’
I really appreciated that you validated the fact that we cannot trust EVERYone. We feel a bit safe among ‘mom’ blogs but it doesn’t mean that only moms read them, or that they are sane. As a personal choice, I have decided not to post my daughter’s name or any pictures of her. I may be scrutinized as ‘silly’ but I feel it’s our way of protecting her.
TerriAnn recently posted..More Goodness from Plum District This Week!
Great things to remember. I used to blog under a pseudo, absolutely no photos, no names, etc. I “came out” in April. That is, a shorterned version of my name, plus a face shot, but other names, specifics are still not mentioned. I’m only semi paranoid now
.
Any chance you’ll be in Austin?!
Ash recently posted..So- you guys knew I’d have yet another story…
I would love to be in Austin, but I have attended too many events this year and I think my husband would kill me if I attended another blogging event.
There are several things listed here that I’ve been thinking about lately. I need to do some more research. Are you going to be speaking at the SD Boot Camp in March?
Natalie recently posted..Baby Jail
I might be attending BBC in San Diego, but I’m not sure about speaking, etc…
Thanks for posting this!! Very good things to remember to think about- especially since I just started blogging!
Congrats on your presentation- I hate public speaking and much prefer writing!
are you going to do this same training at St George? I would love to to hear what you have to say. There are so many things on your list that I’ve been curious about.
Amy recently posted..Finally Friday
I’m just going to be an attendee at St. George and maybe take some photos. If you ever want to hear my side of things just let me know. We can have a phone conversation, Skype, or St. George.
Thanks so much for providing this information. I have been thinking so much more about privacy lately- sparked by a fellow blogger using Foursquare, which gave the exact location of the Starbucks she was at. It kind of freaked me out. Definitely something to think about. I’m bummed I missed the convention. I hope you speak at the next one I attend!
Morgan B. recently posted..My Mormon Crush
I couldn’t attend San Fransisco Bloggy Boot Camp, as I’m already signed up for Philly, but I heard your presentation was great, so thanks for sharing some of it here!
[...] Angry Julie Monday -Privacy and your Blog 10 things to think about [...]
Julie,
Hi! I’m relatively new to blogging, January of this year, and I sure have a lot to learn! I sure wish that you’d post your presentation on your blog, so that I could learn more about what your outline mentioned!
Barb
Barb recently posted..Sorry for no posts lately!!
Barb,
I had a ton of things that I told about my personal life when speaking hence why I left them out. I think that outline is a good starting point to check what items you are most concerned about.
Feel free to e-mail me at: angryjuliemonday@gmail.com if you have specific questions or concerns.
[...] I could actually have an entire blog post dedicated to what Julie said… and well, here’s her outline of her presentation… but it was amazing to learn that it doesn’t matter what you put out there (and try to delete [...]
No, I do not know how to track an IP addy. Do you have a post on how to do so? Thanks!
Awesome list! So much to learn!
Thanks!!! There is a lot to think about. But if you have some sort of personal policy, it will help you in the long run with blogging.