How honest can your blog really be?

Honesty_survey_image

When I started my blog, it was very casual. I told no one it even existed – not my family, not my close friends.

It was my little secret.

To a degree, it was easier that way. I could use it for the reason I started it – to speak out loud, in a sense. I could write about upbeat stories that made my day – while also share some that were pretty crappy.

It only took a few entries for my blog to become my sanctuary – one that housed its own little psychologist. And under one web address I became both shrink and patient and I could yap all day and I wasn’t getting charged a small fortune in the process.

I would write and immediately feel better knowing that every word I published would be there for the world, and yet no one I knew, to see.

It was liberating.

But then I started publishing work and decided that perhaps this undercover blog thing should be, in fact, uncovered.

And so a new blog name was born, a twitter handle was set up and I started blogging as… me. There was no hiding this time.

What happened next changed my world of blogging as I knew it –  I got readers.

Of course that was the whole point of going public – but it didn’t make the surprise of it all any less so.

Some readers I knew well, some I knew kinda well, some I knew casually, others I didn’t know at all.

Watching my stats creep up, slowly but surely, every day, was weird.  And the figures didn’t lie – people were actually going out of their way to click on to my page, to read what I had to say.

It was a strange feeling, that.

And throughout the whole process, I wanted to remain true to myself, to write what I believed in, unedited and unscripted. I wanted to be the same person online as I was in person – who that is you might have to decipher through my posts.

The truth of the matter is however, when you are blogging as you - just how honest can you be when people know who you are?

How do you write honestly and openly, without fear of being judged?

How do you write about your life when there are other people in it that might not like what you have to say?

Every so often, I write a post and it stays in drafts. I write it because it needs to be said, but don’t publish because it doesn’t need to be read.

And that bit is hard for me.

Because even though every single word I have written on this blog is honest - I never want to say anything that I will regret later. Once its published – even if you delete it, it can’t be un-read.

But its these raw qualities and lack of care-factor that are sometimes the most endearing of all blogs – its why people love to read them. Sometimes I wish I had less care and more raw.

How do you stay honest on your blog? 

  • http://kristinschronicles.com Kristin Maack

    I guess I have a good consciousness. I am always honest and want to be translucent. If I published something that wasn’t honest, I would feel terrible about misleading people or misguiding people.

    It’s one thing to say something that isn’t entirely truthful in a moment of conversation, but it is another thing to publish something that isn’t honest which can be accessed forever…

    • http://mammasvidablog.wordpress.com Mamma’s Vida

      Honesty is essential. What I’m questioning is the extent of our honesty – how do you choose what you publish? I never lie but definitely hold back on certain things.

      Thank you for reading and your comment!

  • http://backyardboxingblog.wordpress.com Back Yard Boxing and Kentucky Fried Fitness

    Great piece! I’m new to blogging and in a real quandary on the same point. I have many interesting stories that I believe would benefit others but they are derived from a troublesome past. Drugs, fights and prison all feature. I am now a happily married father of two and I’m not sure whether or not I should go there……

    • http://mammasvidablog.wordpress.com Mamma’s Vida

      Firstly, thank you. I am glad it resonated with you. I can imagine it would be difficult to be transparent on such serious issues. I hope you decide whats best and I will be sure to check in on your blog. Thanks for reading.

  • Sarah

    I love this and of course it makes me want to see all your posts that have remained in the drafts section! haha. I understand why so many people write under pseudonyms – raw honesty can affect your family/friends as well as yourself. It’s natural, I think, to want to hold back but OMG when someone doesn’t! I’ve read things which have knocked my socks off and really made me think. It’s so interesting to hear/read about what someone really thinks. I guess you just have to weigh things up in regards to how far you go?

    • http://www.mammasvida.com.au/ Kat Caravella – Mamma’s Vida

      Ha ha ha – the drafts will probably never make an appearance! It’s definitely much easier to blog anonymously because you can say absolutely anything and no one is affected. I myself try to have a balance – be real enough to still be me and not perfect, but still hold back enough to make sure I won’t regret anything I write.

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