The recent Onion story “Mom Finds Out About Blog” echoes a line from an (apparently genuine) web diary I came across in 1999, where the writer actually considers having two diaries, “so I can have a slightly censured version for my mothers perusal. Kathleen said it would probably be a good thing if she discovered this page, it would give her a useful insight into my true personality. But, I doubt that anyone wants their mother to know THAT much about them.”
Unfortunately I didn’t write down the URL or the title, but I think that diary’s well and truly gone anyway. The article I cited it in is still alive (Jeg taster, derfor er jeg, I type therefore I am), but sadly it lost all its Ê, ¯ and Âs so is a pain to read. One day I’ll reinstate them. Plus, of course, it’s in Norwegian. But quite good – I’d forgotten that I was already thinking about this stuff way back before I began to blog myself.
Related
Discover more from Jill Walker Rettberg
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Ghani
I actually did this for a little while, kept seperate webjournals, one of the “real” me and one censored for family intake. It was exhausting and I really just felt like a liar, so i got rid of the PG-13 one. I still live in fear of my family finding the other one, though, not because I’m a particularly bad person, but like you cited, it’s just creepy to let your parents know too much about you. That, and the last time my mother discovered my webjournal (years ago) she and my father were convinced that i was gay. Eliza Dusku’s sex appeal transcends sexual orientation, people, that’s all i’m saying.
Lars
Following the Onion story, Blogger has already suggested countermeasures:
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=655&topic=-1
Unfogged
Oh hi, Mrs. Ogged!
Ogged, I told you not to blog about Dean and healthcare! (Jill, of course can write about Dean and anything else she wants: she can blog in Norwegian.)…