Blogger Rule #1: Never Write About Your Personal Life
A friend of mine recently wrote about some personal stuff on his website. Since then he’s been deluged with Dr. Phil-wannabees and haters. He now realizes that it was a stupid mistake. He’s pulled the material off his site but he’s found that Al Gore’s Internet is a Pandora’s Box. What comes out is hard to get back in.
So do yourself a favor: Never write about your personal life. Sure it’s okay to write about an experience or two, but never bare your soul. That’s for your diary, your spouse, or your dog.
I would also add the following rules:
1. Never name your loved ones or your pets. Ever. Use pseudonyms or do what I do and use relationships: the Wife, the Kid, the Marine, the (crazy) Mother-in-Law…
2. Never write about your job – hard to do, but you aren’t the only one who knows how to use a search engine. I made the mistake of publicly naming a previous employer once; I’ve been blacklisted by their subsidiaries ever since.
3. Before you rip someone a new one, sleep on it first. It’s hard I know; I’m doing it right now – but you’ll appreciate it later.
4. Never write about sex. For one thing it’s difficult to write well about; it also invites comments from people more perverted than you.
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