Monday, June 14, 2010

Fake blogs

How much of your life do you reveal on your blog? Is anything embellished? Is there something about your real life your readers would be shocked to find out?


I’ve been reading the archives of Storked! on Glamour.com and today read this one and it shocked me. One of the comments was (as we’ve all heard), you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. Well, duh. But I never thought about something as extreme as this.

Some of the blogs I read may be made up. How would I know?? Everyone, even in real-life relationships, shows, and hides, different parts of themselves depending on who they’re with. Often they try to paint themselves as someone they’re not. But on a blog, its sooooo much easier to be a “fake” you. Or to try and put yourself in a better light. Or the opposite, to let the negative things about you come out, because there’s no way you’re letting them out around your real-life friends.

I don't have anything "shocking" to tell you about my blog. The only thing you might not know is my daughter’s name isn’t Meg. I wrote back when I was starting the blog that I was considering using fake names and when I started using the name Meg, I explained it wasn't her real name, but I suppose some people hadn't started reading the blog yet.

I actually got the idea of using fake names from Arwen’s blog. When she started blogging, she used her and her husband’s middle names, Elizabeth and Michael. When she decided to switch to using their real names, her readers were shocked she’d been using fake names. And some felt betrayed. I say, what’s the big deal? Privacy is important and it doesn’t really matter what someone’s name is.

And no, I’m not using my daughter’s middle name. “Meg” is nowhere in her real name. The same is true for the name I made up for my husband. However, my real name IS Jessica. Although I could be lying to you. But I’m not! Ask A’Dell – I sent her a check for the Blathering so she knows my full name!

So, how much of yourself do you reveal on your blog? If you can’t think of anything to write about, do you make something up? Has everything you’ve written about actually happened to you? Do you use fake names on your blog? Do you prefer blogs that use names that are obviously fake – like calling your child “munchkin” instead of using a name – or blogs that picked “real names” to use as fake names (like mine)?

I've never made anything up, but I probably embellish here and there. Can't think of any specific examples. But I'm mainly writing this so I can look back on it, and what would be the point if its all made up??

1 comment:

  1. I haven't made up anything except the nicknames I use on my blog. And on my original blog (which I changed when I felt there was a high chance my SILs were reading and not telling me) I did use a lot more info about my real self. But now, I truly want a little more privacy (since I sometimes rant and rave about my family, etc.) and so I don't want my name and my daughter's name out there and I don't use my friends' names since I don't want to have to ask them if they mind if I use their names on my blog. I use a lot of initials, I make up nicknames, etc. I use this like a digital diary, so I don't make things up (unless I'm blogging about a dream and then I state that) but I know I leave things out and censor some very private details (though I do imply a lot - see my post last month about sex).

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