STAY SAFE WHEN BLOGGING
BLOGGING-STAY SAFE
SAFE WAY TO BLOG
Blogging No-No’s
Be a safety-conscious blogger! Never post:
• Your full name
• Your address
• Your phone number
• Your age
• Anything you wouldn’t want your mother to see!
• Anything you wouldn’t want a future employer to see
• Anything that could compromise your being accepted to college/ University or your future career
The Right Way to Blog
We hope this doesn’t sound too negative. We’re really trying to avoid the “big hairy monsters on the Internet” tone. But we have to give you the information you need to help protect you from the nasty side of cyberspace, that’s a little bit unavoidable.
Still, we don’t want to leave you with the idea that blogging is a bad thing. It’s not. We realize that your blogs are an important part of your online existence. Your entries over time can show a clear record of your emotional growth, a web-based documentary of your development into a thoughtful, exciting individual.
To take advantage of the boons of the blogosphere, you just need to follow a few simple rules:
• Be honest. This means you should maintain your integrity on several levels. Obviously, you should only publish blog entries you know to be true. You should also be honest about yourself. If you need to lie about your age to participate in a particular blogging forum, you know in your heart that you really shouldn’t be there. There are blogs that are open to teens of all ages. For your own protection, stay out of the forums intended only for adults and teens older than you.
• Don’t be too honest. There are some things your blog audience really doesn’t need to know. These include any bits of information that would personally identify you. Your name. Your address or even the name of your town. Your school name. The full names of any friends or acquaintances. For your own protection, you need to keep your personal information off the Net.
• Use discretion. Always remember that your blog is a PUBLIC record. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t be comfortable sharing with Grandma over dinner!
• Think ahead. Never forget that your blog entries may very well outlive you. Before you post something, ask yourself how you’ll feel about that entry next month or next year. Or well into the next decade. Do you really need to blog this, or can you skip it and go talk to a friend in person?