Responding to Scott

Recently, Scott made this comment to one of my earlier posts. He makes some really good points, and presents a valid challenge: "If your privacy is so valuable that you fear exposing it, maybe you shouldn't blog. Or maybe you should consider why you blog in the first place."

I've been thinking about the real me and my blog persona. Maybe some people who know me well would say that the two are continuous, but most wouldn't, I bet. I think that revealing personal information on my blog is, for me, an ongoing process. I just need time, I guess. If CultureCat were a topic-driven, filter-style blog, saying nothing about my personal life would be expected, but I can only assume that you who come here and read my posts do so because you maybe think we have something(s) in common. I need to put myself out there more...and face the fear of being judged.

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Blogging personas

I really like what Scott says, though I don't know if I'm entirely "there" yet, either. But I'd like to be. When I think about the bloggers I feel I've made a connection with, it's the ones who do share something of their personal lives on their blogs. And I do believe there is an issue of honesty and risk-taking involved that I must, as a writing teacher, be willing to engage in since I demand it of my students when they write.

And in the end, what is the worst thing that can happen? I reveal something so embarrassing about myself that I can't show my face? Somehow I doubt it. I'm too old to give a shit. I expose a vulnerability someone takes advantage of? Been there, done that, survived it.

Clancy's Reply to Scott

I read what Scott said last week and thought "yeah, I want whatever he had." I want to know where to find Scott.

- Michelle

There is an interesting tensi

There is an interesting tension between your "true" personality and the one that others read on your weblog. Have you ever read any of Erving Goffman's material on the concept of "face?" I read some of his theories in a class last term, and they seem really applicable. In fact, I bet that would make an interesting paper -- comparing his theories on social communication to its new application "in the blogosphere."

becky

You can find me...

If you're talking about finding me in a physical, not metaphysical, sense, you'll have to drive to Charlotte, NC where I'm a lowly Geography grad student at UNCC. You can also find me on my blog, http://scottwhitlock.blogspot.com.

Hope this helps,

Scott (who is not metaphysical at all)

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