Self-censorship is an intriguing thing. It’s not the same as being told that you aren’t allowed to say something, but it’s realizing that what you are about to say or do could have some unpleasant implications and therefore changing what you were going to say or do. It’s sort of different to tact in a way, but it raises some interesting follow up questions.
It’s all well and good to say that people should be honest and true to themselves, but when this can have personal and professional implications, self-censorship is often imposed. Just how much of my work life will I share here? And even though I’m sharing some of my most intimate moments with all of you as I go through pregnancy, marriage and eventual parenthood, I do sometimes wonder exactly how much I want to share and which parts of my life are better kept private.
Normally, Sam (of Tech Girl fame) and I record our podcasts to go live on the 15th of the month. We didn’t do that this month, but we will do that next month. For now, you can listen to our podcast right here.
When it comes to mommy blogging, I don’t know how to create a persona. In fact, this blog is about as honest and personal as I can get in an online space. And I fully intend to continue that when Harley is born. I do need to figure out how much of her I want to share online, though. There are so many concerns about privacy and children’s safety. I’ve pretty much decided that there will be no bath time pics of her on the blog, no matter how adorable, and I will avoid too many details that might reveal where she goes to school or other specifics that could put her in harm’s way. Call it censorship, call it common sense, it’s just what I’m going to do to protect my child.
Are these all just lines in the sand, though? Everyone needs to do what keeps them comfortable, but creating fake personas or self-censoring all the reasons why people are engaging with you to begin with – is that really right? For now, I’m going on a case by case basis. I’m very glad I grew up in a world without social media, and I can only imagine the size of these kinds of questions that Harley will need to grapple with at all too young an age.
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