Comments on: where do you draw the line?

By: Jon in Michigan

Jon in Michigan — Sat, 28 Aug 2004 11:26:16 +0000

Damn, I missed this post! Well, I’m putting in a comment for future generations if any of this is readable.

I post alot of personal stuff on the blog. I generally don’t post the name of my town but it should be easy to figure out. I guess I agree with the comment about me not being a cute young female. I think most stalkers are looking for that and not 40 year old guy who looks like Shaggy from Scooby doo. Now you know why there’s no pics of me

Most of you are easy to track down based on what you have posted so there isn’t much security in putting things on the blog. The chances that anyone in the world really is “watching” you is pretty slim anyway.

By: michael paus

michael paus — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 17:50:45 +0000

I like to keep the marathon stuff on my marathon page, and the personal stuff on my main page. That way there’s more of a focus to my website. When I started I had everything together – marathons, politics, bar hopping, and it just didn’t really mesh together.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 16:00:13 +0000

Thanks for all your comments!

By: Annalisa

Annalisa — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 15:31:15 +0000

I post way more than I probably should, but that is also because I had a very public, very personal online journal for about 4.5 years, starting in 1997. It’s just habit for me. But I also don’t worry about stalkers and I don’t have kids, so that’s part of it, too.

By: Lafe

Lafe — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 14:59:13 +0000

I just want to toss in another comment about security. I’m not worried about people tracking me down, since I know it is emminently possible. Even easy, if you know how. I could probably track down everyone in this thread right down to your home address, as could most anyone who knows how. (Note: I am not *willing* to do so, so please no one take that the wrong way!)

But I think about it like this: My name and address is in the phonebook, easily searchable in real life and on the ‘net. My property information (house value, etc) is all easily available to the public (on the ‘net too, for that matter), to anyone who asks, and so on and so forth. There’s tons of information about all of us available to the public, but in general this is never a problem. We accept a limited amount of privacy every day, and 99,999 times out of 100,000 this is just fine. These fears tend to get exaggerated on the ‘net, but really, it’s about the same, if not slightly *more* anonymous that in real life. We’re in more danger from our neighbors, who actually know us (and may have reasons to dislike us) than from random strangers on the ‘net.

Just my opinion… sorry I got so long-winded about it!

By: april anne

april anne — Thu, 26 Aug 2004 03:28:51 +0000

Mark, what a great question. I try to keep my post to things related to training, which some times include things happening in my life which are completely non-running related. I think it’s great when people share some non-running related things. It makes the RBF feel more like a family, and not just a network of “fitness robots”. ~ As for security…I was very leary when I first started my blog. I didn’t even want to write about the weather because I thought, “What if some one is able tack me down” but then I relized, I can’t live my life based on the What If’s. I think it comes down to just being sensable and smart about what you post and share with others.

By: jank

jank — Wed, 25 Aug 2004 21:05:49 +0000

I kind of try to keep it separate. Run, Run's mostly about running/biking. I post random geeky stuff and vent at a site some friends and I keep up. There's overlap between the two - but I try to keep the content from being double-posted. I do worry about security, but a completely safe world is one in which we're all locked in padded cells. And that's no fun.

By: Pamalamadingdong

Pamalamadingdong — Wed, 25 Aug 2004 18:07:23 +0000

Yeah I pretty much spill it. I avoid my last name and the name of my town (though I have mentioned it to some).
Other than that, it’s fair game. Photos and all.

By: Lafe

Lafe — Wed, 25 Aug 2004 18:04:57 +0000

I’m with Susan and Rebecca. I enjoy reading extra bits about people in their blogs, and I tend to toss bits into mine. I actually have less of an excuse to include info in my running blog, since I actually have a separate blog for “the rest.” I’m not worried about security at all, and I don’t think that’s very naive, but then I’m also not cute, single, or a woman, and so I can’t imagine anyone ever wanting to stalk me.

To everyone, I say share whatever you wish, and I’ll enjoy reading it.

By: Deene

Deene — Wed, 25 Aug 2004 14:28:23 +0000

I agree with you about the security issues and I try to protect my family’s privacy as much as possible. I mostly blog about fitness and sometimes about odd events/people that I encounter on my way to work or if I have a very disturbing issue that needs to be tossed. Once in a while I’ll had something personal/family related if it affects my running.