Teatopia

Hmm, good question. I don't kk now if I have an answer. I think we all think about that once in awhile though.

I wouldn't want my family reading my blog. I don't generally write about anything too crude either, but I wouldn't want to be limited if I got in the mood to show a picture of my ass. My two cents...one blog for family and friends, and one blog for all of us you don't have to look in the face on a daily basis :).

Hi Hannah, I'm one of your lurkers! I had the same dilemma with my blog, so I understand where you are coming from. I used to censor myself as I knew people who I wasn't entirely comfortable with read my blog. In the end, I deleted it, as I was censoring so much I was completely boring! Sounds like a great idea to have a family blog and an anonymous blog. If you do move, I'll miss your blog - yours is always the first one I click on to see if it's been updated :)

Melissah
Perth, Australia

PS - Olivia is a darling!

As you know, I started with a family & friends only blog. Then, like you, I realized I wanted it to be more. So, I started my anonymous blog- Mama Loves Papa. Well, for me, having two blogs was a pain in the booty! I wanted to say more to the friends & fam then just show pics, but I didn't have time to keep updating two. And, my anonymous blog seemed too negative and complainy, just because I could. I decided to merge the two, on Mama Loves Papa and say what I want. Sometimes it's hard to post things (like about my period, knowing my dad is reading it), but oh well! And, it keeps me in check so that I don't say anything that compomises my values (which by the way, I don't mean talking about sex or anything, I mean talking bad about people. Sometimes I do wish I could talk about my sex life, but my father in law reads it and I just don't think I could get past THAT). I know having two separate blogs is a great idea, but it didn't work for me. But, if you do...keep me in the loop!! :)

Well, I'm one of the lurkers *lol* I started with two seperate blogs, one for family & friends but it didn't work for me. Now, I'm not really a regular blogger to begin with, but having two places to update was almost impossible for me. Maybe that's just me, though ;)
I'd def. miss your blog if you decide to shut it down. If you move it to a different location, I'd love to follow you. I'm going to try to comment more often :)

You can make some of the posts password protected with wordpress? Don't know how much that costs though? I am looking into it again cause I feel silly having two. But its your blog and do what makes you feel happy. People judge no matter what I learned. We expose ourselves every day with blogging but in the end luckily we made friends out of it who support us even if our choices are different. Good luck.

Atleast you are not like a former friend who made fun of for having a blog then had one all along without telling me and this is girl I knew since college. She was my maid of honor for Pete's sake. That was a bit betraying.

I went back & read the post you mentioned that you wrote in March 2006 (because I didn't start my blog til Sept. 2006) & I'll answer now. I'm not anonymous w/our names but I only post our 1st names. But, I am anonymous w/important info. (like exactly where we live & such). I post what state we live in but that's it.

Personally, w/having 2 children, I do good to just keep my one blog updated. But, that's your personal choice & you have to do what YOU feel is right for YOU :) I hope that if you do decide to do one for your family & one that's anonymous, you'll let me know. I know we've never "met" in real life, but I've come to treasure the friendship we've made thru blogging & would miss you terribly if I wasn't able to read about you & your family :)

I wish you good luck w/whatever you decide to do though :)

Hi there, I haven't been by in a while, but to shed a few of my thoughts on the matter, I can say I completely understand your delima. I have been there and at times still wonder. As Connie said, I only use first names, I don't say specific places, and I just try to be careful of the pictures I post. and most of my posts are of Jacob for Ryan's family out west. As for the things you say I wouldn't worry about it, I have seen some pretty NASTY blogs lol.

You could also have your blog set to exclusive and just invite readers and they would have to sign in to see your blog....but then not all of your family members you have a google account if they were to come by your site. I hope you can make the best decision (as Connie put it) the best decision for you.

I also wanted to tell you I am having some photo fun at my site. It is called Baby Days. I am making buttons for all who participate. All you need to do is send a picture of your Olivia(under 1 yr of age) to:

shanilie@hotmail.com

For more information pop by my site, and anyone else who reads this can also participate as well! Hope you can participate!

I have two blogs. I highly suggest that. Sounds like you still need the outlet and we'd all miss you and Olivia if you went totally private.

I just moved my blog to wordpress and guess what? You can password protect posts there...meaning, you could write a vent about family and then protect it with a password, you could talk about your sex life and protect it with a password...

Meanwhile, you can have your separate family blog for them to read about Olivia.

Hum..I would say it would probably be better to have two and see how that goes? then you can say whatever you want!

I just started my blog in January, but I had the same dilemma. I wanted to share it with people that I knew so they could keep updates on the baby, pics, etc., but then I also wanted to be able to speak my mind about certain things without worrying about offending friends and family. So far only two people that I know are aware of the blog. My husband, and my friend Whitney who is local fellow blogger.

I have thought about doing another one where I can voice my opinions, and keep the one I have now for family, I just don't know if I have the time to do it!!!

I hope you will let us know if you decide to change. I love seeing pictures and updates of Olivia. She's just precious!!

I still haven't really openly admitted to my family that I have a blog. I think I may have mentioned it once or twice in passing and might have one or two family members visit it, but haven't given out the URL to the whole clan. My husband knows I have one and isn't exactly thrilled with the concept. Because of this, I really limit myself on what I post. And I'm pretty sure my blog is pretty boring because of this. I don't really feel that I have anything that exciting to say if I go private, though.

Do you know for sure if your friends and family that have stumbled upon it feel differently about you or are you just feel that they do? I have a weird paranoia about those family members that do read my blog and I feel I censor myself even more than I need to. I could see going to a Wordpress type blog where you have private entries that you can monitor who reads what. I'm sure family and friends that don't receive the password would understand and you can choose to share whatever info you post in person if you feel comfortable.

Good luck with your decision.

Congrad on the new friend. I know how important they are~ Cherish and embrace her.

I am happy so far with Laurel my cosmetic counter friend from Dillards. She and I may get together this weekend...I just wish she had better taste in men. She and Angel could fight over guys. Laurel is prettier. She commutes an hour from Alabama daily. Ughhhh

Guess, I am a bit surprised about your family comment, I mean ya'll are so close...I guessed you didn't keep ANY secrets from them. I think it's great you and mom and sis are so close.

I don't broadcast that I have a blog, but I don't hide it either. I'd say the majority of my family members are aware, and sometimes take time to read it. Same with my real-life friends. While sometimes I feel the need to censor myself, I don't think that's a totally bad thing. My feeling is that just because you think you're anonymous doesn't mean you should say things that you'd be embarassed to say to someone's face (whether they're about you or about them). It's a way to stay accountable for what you're putting out there.
Good luck with your decision!

i agree with some of the other comments that already have been posted. i think you should have two blogs. if you move to wordpress, you can password protect posts and not have to worry about your posts being read by people you don't want seeing them.

I can completely understand where you are coming from. I have been very select in which friends I tell about my blog and my family are not aware of it at all, apart from my partner, but he doesn't bother to read it anyway. :) I hold back a lot on my blog for fear of offending anyone and from the fear of not knowing who's reading. I was thinking about it just the other day whether it was worth just writing the normal day to day stuff and not letting what I really think out. I've decided to continue as is for now. Good luck in your decision and if you move, I'd love to know! :)

I'd definitely check out WordPress, Hannah. Looks like you have your own domain, so it should be easy to install for you. Let me know if you need any help ~ but I'm not guaranteeing anything! :) You could definitely have one blog for family updates and then your other blog where you share personal stuff. And you can password-protect entries in WP.

i think that you can do whatever you feel like doing because it is your blog, your space. i keep my blog because i actually enjoy going back into my archives to remember moments from days or months or years ago. and you are right, friends are the best part about this online community. i thank my blog because my last few months in columbus would not have been that much fun if we had not met.

one other thing, it doesn't mean that lurkers don't exist when they don't comment. i always believe in commenting for the sake of making a good point. i'm afraid, i would then be one of your lurkers :) just to see how you are keeping.

whatever you do, just do what will make you happy!

Sorry - i'm just catching up on my blog reading.
I totally know what you mean. I have thought on occasion that I'd like to do a totally seperate blog for family and then do one where I could say anything. I'm not crude either but on occasion it would be nice to chat about stuff you just wouldn't in front of your family. If you do move, I'd love to be on your list. I really enjoy reading your blog. That's a hard decision.

I've been lurking on your blog for a while (sorry!), and love reading it. I have two blogs - one anonymous for me and the other one that I use for family and friends. I found that when I started my blog, it was hard to keep up with writing on both, so the family and friends blog has pretty much become all pictures of my son (since that's what everyone wanted to see anyway!) and just a little bit of text about what we've been up to.

It's worked well for me so far, although every so often I panic that I logged into the wrong account and posted on the wrong blog, or that I commented on a blog under the wrong account name and so a friend/family sees my anonymous site or vice versa. I've never actually done that, but I do worry about it.

I don't usually tell people about my blog ... but my mom and hubby do. But it severely limits what I can say, which kinda stinks, cuz sometimes I'd really like to rant about a few things. And you're right - keeping a diary just isn't as satisfying ... no one to bounce these things off of and get feedback from. I've frequently thought of making a password-protected section on my blog just for ranting, etc, but I still haven't done it. Maybe some day ...

I don't hide my blog, but I also don't tell EVERYONE about it. For example, I don't have it listed on my MySpace for people from high school to find. All of my friends and acquaintances here know about it, but I don't keep up with who actually reads it regularly. If they do, it's at their own risk.

I still read all my usual blogs (your included) but SUCK at commenting now. Shoot, I feel like i hardly blog anymore because I try to do it all at home, and shoot, I just don't have the time!

If you do move, PLEASE email me the link!! I want to keep up with Miss Olivia and esp when miss/mr #2 comes along!!!! ...even if I am just a lurker to everyone these days!! :-)

I also suck at commenting lately! You know my story, I wish to remain completely anonymous! One person I know (MK) found my blog by searching for it but that's it (as far as I know!)