This week on Mama Kat’s Losin It Writers Workshop, she asked to comment on a headline from the Today Show. Scratching my brain for an opinionated comment all that comes to mind is a reocurring headline …Internet Creeps.
Internet creeps are out there and lurking too I might add. Now that I am a blogger it makes me wonder if creeps are following my blog. How do I know? Will I be able to tell? I probably never will. It leaves me to wonder, “is my blog safe?” Considering that I write about issues related to mommyhood, being a wife and a friend while posting pictures to tell each story, I wonder if this could potentially hurt me? How do I know? Sure.. I use some app to help block someone from copying my pictures, but is that truly safe from an internet creep? Do I watch too many Dateline’s, 20/20′s, 48-hours and think they are everywhere…….lurking?
For all you seasoned bloggers, how do you protect yourself from the lurking internet creep? I welcome all your comments and advice for making our blogosphere more friendly and safe!!
I didn’t see this one…I should have written on that!! =)
I think that the predators aren’t out looking to READ my blog….they want to actually connect with someone, and I think until my boys are older…I have some time to figure out what I will do to protect them!
There’s an app to keep people from stealing photos?!?
The world is such a scary place today.. I try to keep everything as private as possible and use psuedonyms and don’t refer to where I live or work in an effort to keep it as anonymous as I possibly can… But I’m a new blogger, so I’ve still got lots of learning to do.
Stopped by from Mama Kat’s.
The only way to really protect yourself is to keep your blog private, which of course keeps you from the best part of blogging: meeting other bloggers. It’s a tough call. I have certain things I don’t blog about and/or won’t post. I definitely don’t post as many pictures as I used to. And if I see a lot of hits on my blog coming from a questionable source, I’ll delete the post. It’s just not worth it.
Stopping by from Mamma Kat’s…
I tend to think that I am juggling between having a following and not being too public. I know that if people dig hard enough they can read between the lines and find out a lot of personal information about someone. I wish I had some solid advice on how to protect yourself, but I think that all depends on what you consider to be personal information. For some, mentioning your child’s name on your blog could put them at risk. I tend to refer to people and not use names if I can avoid it. Other times, photos of your neighborhood could be a dead giveaway as to where you live. I wouldn’t want to tell you to not post pictures, but you could make sure that identifying things such as license plates and house numbers are not visible in the photos.
The best of skill in juggling that balance as well,
I’m not sure how to make the Internet a safer place either but I too worry about it. I saw the other day that they’re thinking of making a ‘Panic’ button for kids and teens on Facebook to use. I hope it turns out to be a great idea that helps a lot of young ones.
Stopping by from Mama Kat’s!
I don’t. I let them lurk and hope they enjoy it. As long as they aren’t taking it to the next level by parking in front of my house and pleasuring themselves while I scream at my kids then I could not care less. Go ahead and print off my pictures (or my kids even, although the thought makes me gag) and plaster them to your creek-side taxidermy trailer. My mom used to get all over me when I was younger about closing the curtains in my second level, facing the sky, bedroom. Why? If someone goes through all the trouble to get a look at the goodies they sorta deserve it, ya know? Same way I feel about blog lurking creepazoids. If you subject yourself to reading my crap blog on a daily basis then go ahead and enjoy any photos of me picking up my own child’s poop from the yard you print off! You’ve earned it!
I felt the same way when I started my blog. I don’t put a lot of personal (real names/photos/etc) info up and try to keep it vague. I do get spam comments some times which freaks me out a little…how did they find my blog to spam?!?! I think common sense is the key for sure!
Stopping by from Mama Kat’s