Privacy versus living transparently

[jonobie]

I just went back through my old journal entries and unlocked several of them with the following note: [Edit: Unlocked during my 5/10/2010 unlocking pass, since enough time has passed to obscure identifying details.] I've been thinking a lot recently about privacy and my online identity, and unlocking older entries is one result

Comments

[jonobie]

Hrmf. That's not about hiding, that's about laziness! Fixed now, though.

[nickjong]

I like the "gaze of eternity" notion. It more-or-less fits how I try to live my life. I do still find that I restrict my blogging (beyond not always making time to blog), and I'm still trying better to understand why. I know that a large factor for me is respecting the privacy of others: for the last few years Sarah's, and more recently Apple's.

[jonobie]

Good points - I agree about respecting the privacy of others; that's definitely a factor in what things I choose to lock/write about as well. (I can't think of a situation where I'd *write* someone else's secrets, even if locked. But I might skirt around them and still lock to make sure I don't accidentally reveal something I shouldn't.)

[dr4b]

Yeah, I was going to say, I pretty much gave up on hiding my online self years ago when I realized the web was being archived and so even my stupid fledgling freshman-year-at-CMU-whiny-17-year-old web page may still be viewed for all the ages. It's too late for me to erase my online past, so why bother hiding anything at all?

On the other hand, yeah, I don't want to get fired, so I respect the privacy of my school, while still trying to share stories about it friends-locked. I suppose if I gave code nicknames to everyone it might be possible to write about stuff in the open, but that'd be harder for me to keep track of anyway.

Oh yeah, and naturally I have been trying not to write about PH-related stuff at all :)

[jonobie]

Makes sense. :) I never counted on the Way Back Machine, either!

[goulo]

Some good food for thought, and I agree with your thoughts!

[jonobie]

Thanks!

[mdf356]

Yeah, sadly not all my secrets are ones I can share since others in my life desire privacy. And I think I feel a difference between what I would tell one individual, regardless of how well I know them, and what I will broadcast to the unknown.

[jonobie]

Agreed - I think there's definitely more things I share privately with individuals versus saying things out into the ether. For example, I'm pretty open with my medical stuff to anyone who knows me.

[rfunk]

I like this, but there's one flaw: those watching are mostly NOT "the noblest people, the greatest souls". This reminds me of something I used to ponder a lot as a kid: In a perfect world there would be no need for secrets, but this is not a perfect world.

(And then there's the stuff that I'm generally fine with sharing, and some are interested in hearing, but most just don't want to hear about.)

[jonobie]

I prefer to assume noble intentions, I guess, especially since I'm not going to run for president or something like that. :) But definitely true that not everyone watching is noble.