Writing reveals something about yourself, and putting it on the internet exposes yourself for all the world to see.
While not maybe not all of the world reads your blog, you know the great damage you can do to yourself by expressing your thoughts to the world. You’ve certainly seen when celebrities and even half-bit middle managers have fallen from grace, lost their jobs due to stupid social media posts gone viral.
I generally stay away from politics and controversial matters on my blog, and a definitely don’t post controversial things to social media. But like many people, I have my views on the issues of the day, and I try to write thoughtful commentary about them on my little corner of the internet. Yet every time I write a bit, I know there is somewhat a risk, especially if my views don’t reflect the popular sentiment of the day. But sometimes it’s worth it to express oneself, especially when it’s a bit off the harsh light that social media often casts one’s words.
I have my own views. I am a conservative, and people respect me for my views. I am pro-environment, but I like my guns and the rural life with it’s cows, trees, bonfires and big jacked up trucks. I’m also a Democrat, I work for the Democratic Majority and I work hard to defend the interest of my paying clients, even if I don’t agree with them on every issues. Truth is I can’t think of a client I ever worked with which I fully agreed with on every issue, but I worked hard to get their message out and defend them politically. I don’t talk about my clients or even too much what I do professionally on the internet bar the broad strokes which are public record. You can figure out what I do for a living and how much I earn by visiting NYS Board of Elections and See Through NY, or the Assembly’s Public Information Office.
As I’ve gotten older, I enjoy less and less the public sphere, that is attending public meetings and fighting development in the Albany Pine Bush or attending protests and rallies. I generally shun newspaper columns, I don’t write letters to editor regularly, nor do I post anything political on social media. My blog while not private, is a controlled environment, where I can share my views, while controlling the format they are displayed and who can comment on each post. No name calling or inappropriate threads get started on my blog, as I have to approve comments and can delete or moderate as I so choose. Things only trend on my blog, as much as I left them trend on the feed.
This is part of the reason I thought about shutting down my blog, besides the sheer cost of running it — now hopefully defrayed significantly by advertising. I kind of don’t like how well I’ve gotten known from the maps I’ve made up over the years, it gets harder and harder to travel anonymously when people recognize Big Red parked places, along with my camping set up. At the same time, it does tickle me how many people know about my blog. Yet, sometimes I do wish I could go places, especially in the back country, without being a minor-half-bit internet celebrity.
