Should Blogging Have Boundaries?

I love blogging. I really do. Between this blog and my Montessori blog, I've written several hundred posts over the last two years. I also love to read other people's blogs - I could spend a whole evening just surfing from blog to blog.

But one thing I've realized is that I will never be the kind of blogger that blogs about everything. Some people do. They seem to have no problems sharing really intimate thoughts with an audience of thousands (or hundreds of thousands). A few that spring to mind immediately are Heather Armstrong at dooce.com, Penelope Strunk at the Brazen Careerist, and Lindsay Ferrier at Suburban Turmoil.

These fearless ladies are willing to talk all about their marriages (and marital strife), parenting, families, personal struggles, and lots of other stuff. It definitely makes for fascinating reading. (When I went to each of their blogs to get the link, I couldn't help but start reading their most recent posts). And yet, I can't bring myself to do likewise. I often wonder, while reading their blogs, if their approach is actually healthy or not.

A good case can be made for keeping some boundaries while blogging. All three of the bloggers I mentioned above have mentioned times where they've gotten in trouble with family or friends for things they've said in their blogs. Hurt feelings, broken trust: is that necessary just to have a compelling blog?

It seems to me it's a big trade-off - on one hand, "tell-it-all" blogs are likely to get lots of links, generate lots of comments, and create controversy (which means people will talk about you...which is almost always good). On the other hand, you have lost your privacy and in some cases the special bond you have with people who truly know you. They're not likely to share their true feelings with you if they know that anything they say can end up in a blog post.

I definitely do try to be very honest when blogging, it's just that I limit the subject matter. Twice, I've opened up more personally on my business blog, and it felt pretty good. In the first one, I talk about the loss of my daughter; in the second, I give a candid overview of a typical day in my life. Both of them were hard to write, in a way. The first because it was painful, the second because I really had to stop and think about things that I often do without thinking about them.

I will continue to blog (it's certainly addicting), but use it as a way to instruct (my other blog) and a sort of online journal (this blog) where I can share thoughts and experiences. I've had a pretty interesting life, and I like having a place to talk about it. Most likely, it will still be more than anyone really wants to know about me ;)