Is there a face behind that blog?

Are you blogging and wondering if you will have any privacy left? You are right to be concerned. Being a blogger is a lot like being a columnist in a traditional print publication, except you have the potential for reaching millions of people and oh yeah, whatever you write will be out there probably forever.

People have their favorite bloggers for a reason. Number one is trust. If you can trust that blogger, you will come back. Number two is either for education or entertainment or a heady combination of both things.

When you blog, you must decide how much of your life you want to reveal to the world. How much do you want to announce in a busy, crowded arena to perhaps thousands (or millions, think big!) of people?

I know one outdoor blogger who never revealed anything about herself and never set up an “About” page, and she’s prominent in the outdoor communications industry. This is one extreme – and this strategy does not promote a relationship with the reader at all. She would use her husband’s name at times, and the reader would have to wonder, “Who is John [not his real name either]?”

And then, there are bloggers like “mommy bloggers,” who reveal all, even the floor plans of their homes when they publish renovation photos. That’s a bad idea, too. Hello, home intruder.

I don’t like to reveal my husband’s or kids’ names. I don’t think it’s necessary. They did not ask for the publicity. I did.

I don’t like to reveal our floor plans, our address, things about my neighbors I don’t like or where I am going.

So, if you write a blog or are thinking about setting one up, you need to decide not what type of person you will be, because that’s already been determined through your genetics and actions. You need to decide how much of you will be revealed to the world.

Keep it honest. Keep it clean. Keep it real.

You can’t go wrong with that combination.