Thursday, January 25, 2007

Jumping ship
There's been quite a commotion going on in the blogging community. A lot of people are abandoning their pubic blogs to go to a safer, invitation only place on the internet. I had questioned myself about this way back when Logan was a newborn. I thought long & hard about posting pictures of him & our family for everyone to see. I don't regret how I've done things & Bill has supported me 100% I've always tried to play it safe. But you can never be too safe, especially when it comes to your family.

There are stalkers out there. There are people who don't have anything better to do with their lives & spew hateful comments about other people & the choices they make. It hits a little close to home. I was surprised when I had anonymous comments calling me names because of things that were happing in our family. I didn't think much of it at the time other than, "Wow. Kind of crazy that someone feels so 'moved' to make that kind of comment about my life". Now I see what it can turn into. It's no longer a matter of what can happen in the blogging world, but what does happen.

One thing is for sure, I can't just give up blogging. Now way, Jose. I've found a lot of great friends out there. I've been able to look back at our life & cherish wonderful memories that I would've forgotten because my mind is like a sieve. I have something very special to share with Logan when he's older. This is an opportunity for my out-of-state family to keep up with our life & see us grow. I have a place to vent my feelings about life & express my opinions about parenthood. Blogging is a part of my life & it's been an awesome "hobby".

I'm not making any rash decisions right now, but I'm seriously considering making some changes. I may end up deleting this blog & creating two new ones. One that is invitation only for friends & family that follows the same kind of format that I've been doing on here. The other one will be completely anonymous, where I can rant & rave about life & following more of an essay format (crap, that means I'll really have to write & be more aware of my terrible grammar & punctuation mistakes). I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with two blogs at the same time. I know some people do it, but I wonder if I can.

If we decide to go through with those changes, it will be after Logan's birthday. It seems like an appropriate time for change & a pretty cool grand finale. There's still some time to think about it, so we'll see what happens.

10 comments:

the stefanie formerly known as stefanierj said...

You can delete this blog, but only on one condition: you give me the url to the new one first. Hey, we're practically family, right?? :)

Good luck. It's a tough decision, but you can do it! And your readers aren't going anywhere but where you are!

Unknown said...

Kristin, I totally understand. Can you email me? girl_from_florida@yahoo.com

Avorie said...

Yeah, Hubby was so uncomfortable with me putting pictures of Lilly on my blog that I had to stop.

My blog is personal. Hubby reads it occasionally, but my family knows nothing about it. It gives me the freedome to rant and talk about whatever I want without having to worry what they think. I do keep it reasonable just in case it's "discovered" someday.

Liz said...

Well, as you know, I TOTALLY understand. I'm struggling with this myself.
I've gotten crazy-lady (well, I assume lady, but who the heck knows) comments and threatening emails.
I bailed Blogger. But until I'm in a position to fully support a new blog, then I'll continue to say F*CK YOU to the haters.
I don't have the time or patience.
Whatever you do, please keep me posted!

Anonymous said...

I guess I've just been lucky so far...no crazies over at my place yet. I suppose it's only a matter of time.

Whatever you decide to do you'll have plenty of loyal readers!

Anonymous said...

I understand your concerns. Especially as a mother, you have to do what you feel is right for you and your family. Your instincts will lead you to the right decision.

Whatever you do, your true online friends are behind you!

Dawn @ Bent, not broken said...

I can definitely see why you would think about changing some things to keep it more safe. It's a shame that we live in that type of world, where our personal blogs can't stay personal. I remember reading someone's blog a few months ago and they have quite a dedicated audience and they even admitted that they can't exactly talk about everything they used to be able to talk about before they had such a large audience. And then..the stalkers came and that ruins it. I had one time when I had a Livejournal where someone anonymous left me a nasty comment. It was during James' colicky days and I was venting...normal venting. This persons say, "one child is all you two can handle. Don't think of having more.." That was not what a brand new mom wants to hear. I took it personally and later realized, "Umm.. what a jerk. But their problem." and it took almost forever to believe my own words. I opened James' blog up originally for the fact that I didn't know how to set up our own website so blogging worked. And it was made primarily for family and friends. It took a while after I created the blog, posted pictures, etc. to realize how public our blogs are and how anyone...ANYONE can look at it and do god knows what with that information. Anywho, I've rambled on...LOL Again, whatever you decide is of course, the right thing. Just please let me join your membership because I LOVE your blog!! ;)

Anonymous said...

Sorry to see you make this decision but I understand. I hope the messages I left have not helped you in this decesion but helped you in life. Best wishes-Ilene. p.s. I found you when I was looking for my brother and his son-Logan.

Anonymous said...

I COMPLETELY understand where you're coming from. I changed Ava's blog over to an 'invitation only' as you know, awhile back. My original intention behind blogging was so that my family, who lives 3,000 miles away could read up on us & see pictures. So they could feel closer to Ava & more involved in her life despite the distance. I became hooked!! I have lots of family & friends that read it now. I've invited a very small, select few of other bloggers that I don't "know" to read it (you, for example). Only seemed fair seeing as how I read theirs on a daily basis.

Personally, I feel more comfortable having it that way. I feel more at ease knowing who's around, who knows what we're doing, where we're going, our routines and habits. And THAT gives me peace. Hopefully you are able to get yours, whatever decision you make thats good for you, and your family!

Anonymous said...

Kristin,
If you change blogs please let me know. I live in France and love reading your blog. Please let me know. fox_deanna@hotmail.com
Thank you ! Happy Birthday to Logan !