Drawing the Line of Personal Privacy Online: Where is it?

The more that I work as a journalist and as a writer, the more I feel the need/desire to censor myself—even just for personal space reasons. I’m a public person for the sole fact that I work in journalism, so boundaries between personal and professional have to be in place to some degree…you have to maintain some level of personal and professional integrity. 

The internet was born and came of age after I was born, so the compulsion to share everything and anything about oneself is something I thankfully lack. However, I have struggled at times in deciding what to share of my personal life on this blog and other social media platforms—what do you share that will connect with your readers? What do you share to build some sense of a relationship/friendship with said readers? After all, social media is about and is formed around community, is it not?

Still, I try to keep my personal life out of it…most of the time.

This doesn’t exactly happen when it comes to writing about music. Music is such a visceral experience and the joy in sharing music with others revolves around that innate relationship we all have to music—removing personal experience just isn’t possible. I have the wonderful consequence of listening to some amazing sounds, boomeranging conversations with some prolific songwriters and composers, and at the end of the day teem with an intangible resulting spark. 

 My work in the industry has undoubtedly led to relationships and friendships that I wouldn’t trade for anything…you find your people where you find your people. What I haven’t wasn’t prepared for (who knows why? It’s the music industry, right?) were groupies (theirs, not mine.) Groupies are different than hardcore fans (All groupies are fans, but not all fans are groupies.) and the lack of distinction between what is appropriate to share and what is far too personal to blast to “public” people IN PUBLIC has me wondering what the hell happened. 

Am I just behind on a trend that I find appalling? Or am I the weirdo that looks at the trend of over-sharing personal information as a voluntary violation of personal privacy? Granted, it’s not just groupies that do it…I guess that everyone wants the fifteen minutes of fame that Warhol guaranteed all those years ago. Or perhaps I’m still wrapped up in Marshall McLuhan’s “the message is in the medium.” 

So where do you draw it? How personal is too personal? How personal is not personal enough?

And what is the kicker in setting those boundaries?

Transitioning From Print to Digital: A Word from 303 Magazine

Last Friday, one of the magazines I write for announced that after seven years, it will discontinue production of its print publication and move fully digital (which is sad, but exciting!) What this means for all of us at 303 is yet to be seen, but our editor-in-chief, Laura Standley, addresses the transition while pulling no punches in the post above. If you like what I write or support what 303 does or even if you just like to support local publications or whatever digital media you consume, please give the post some love and attention. We are only as good as the community of which we’re a part and that includes our readers.

The Hate Has to Stop: Get Off My Internets

I’m a little late to the game when it comes to Get Off My Internets (GOMI) and until this afternoon, remained entirely ignorant to its existence. Now, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I’m of the opinion that everyone has the right to voice said opinion (certain governments might disagree with me on this, but I digress.)

However, I draw the line when it comes to mass bashing for the sake of merely encouraging cruelty and hatred.

It’s an accomplishment to have made it through grammar school and junior high, particularly if you weren’t spared the experience of bullying. When I was that age, the end of the day meant that you left the dipwads that made your life a living hell behind with the promise of retreating to the haven that was home. (Maybe it wasn’t truly a haven, but at least the horror of junior high wasn’t something that found its way into your bedroom via the computer screen.) I can only imagine what it must be like to be a 12-year old now and completely unable to get away from kids that bully. 

Still, you sort of expect this from kids. Kids use whatever means possible to torment others when they deem it necessary because they haven’t figured sh*t out yet. Adults, on the other hand, are wholly responsible for their actions. Why? Because one should knows better once adulthood rolls around. Does this stop people? No; it simply equates to passive aggressive behavior as a way of inflicting pain.

This afternoon, after reading a Twitter conversation involving dooce and posts on GOMI, curiosity called. Was I surprised at the fact that the site and its forum are devoted primarily to bashing on bloggers and internet personalities? Probably not. What surprised me is the fact that GOMI feels like an internet version of Mean Girls. Grown adults tearing into each other. Specifically, grown WOMEN tearing into OTHER women. The rants do not consist of constructive criticism about what certain bloggers are doing and could do better, but rather personal attacks on these women as human beings. What kills me further is that the “authors” of the site are two women. Disclaimer: there is the occasional post about men, but the vast majority of the content is aimed at female bloggers.  

It’s bad enough that the internet and its many social platforms have become launch pads for cruelty between kids, often with sad results. We sit around and wonder why this passive aggressive form of sh*t slinging has become so prevalent, but we’ve no farther to look than our fellow adults. Opinions are opinions, but to encourage bash sessions (not to be confused with roasts) for the sake of bashing isn’t acceptable—it serves no greater good. 

Furthermore, to get on my feminist soapbox, I find it appalling that a couple of women have organized a place for a whole lot of other women to bash on a bunch of females who happen to hold a web presence. All for fun. For the sake of “commentary.” We (women) already live in a gender-biased world that creates inequality for both men and women. Why on earth would we want to contribute and encourage the growth of that gender bias? It serves no one. (The same sentiments go to a certain blogger who took it upon herself to label certain female journalists as sexpots based on less-formal Twitter avatars.)

Point: hate breeds hate. We have this wonderful tool that allows us to connect with different kinds of people all over the world. It might (oh my) allow us to understand our perspectives and beliefs a little better—even if we don’t agree on/don’t quite understand them.) Why on earth do we continue to use it to create more separation (excluding the conversation regarding the digital divide)?

Lessons From the Paper

Food for thought from behind the headlines:

My giant take-home of late comes from the acknowledgment of one of my greatest weaknesses as a journalist. Accosting total strangers on the street—particularly college students—terrifies me in the same manner that speaking to large groups of people terrifies others. I avoid it, I stammer, I pass dozens of people as I try to psych myself up to talk to them.

I am still innately a very introverted person. Introversion can superficially be overcome only through the examination and practice of “putting on a good show.” Still, there are pockets of it that are more difficult than others. This is one difficulty for me. Perhaps one day I’ll move beyond it. Perhaps not.  

Journalists the world over are struggling to cope with a social and mobile tsunami of ‘user generated content’, to use an increasingly inadequate phrase. Twitter and YouTube will overwhelm news organisations who can’t master their potential.

A common mistake for those seeking to cope with this profound disruption is to confuse technology with innovation. Algorithms, apps and search tools help make data useful but they can’t replace the value judgements at the core of journalism.

Genuine innovation requires a fundamental shift in how journalists think about their role in a changed world. To begin with, they need to get used to being ‘curators’; sorting news from the noise on the social web using smart new tools and good old fashioned reporting skills.

Mark Little (via soupsoup)

Source: soupsoup