I started blogging back in 2008. At the time, my blog was like an open book. I shared everything. My friends’ names, my own photos, little daily stories… nothing felt too private. Before that, I wrote in a diary, so blogging felt like the natural next step. It was even more fun because people could read it. Sometimes they’d laugh, sometimes they’d say, “I feel the same way.” It felt like connection.
But a few years ago, I came across a news article that made me pause. It talked about how easily our personal data can be misused. How people with bad intentions could track us down just from what we post online. That really got to me.
Since then, I’ve started archiving anything that felt too personal. My child’s name, her photos, the hospital where she was born, my husband’s name—all of it. I even set my YouTube videos to private and locked all my social media accounts (even LinkedIn where I could get a job opportunity). Now, I only accept friend requests from people I know in real life.
If you search my name online today, you won’t find much. Maybe a few photos, mostly from book launches or interviews—things I can’t really take back.
A few weeks ago, a friend asked me, “What if you died? Wouldn’t you want people to still find you online when they miss you?”
I’ve thought about that a lot. Social media could be like an “online cemetery”—a place where friends can visit, remember me, or look back on the life I once lived. Maybe close friends would still have access to my social media. But those who are far away? Maybe not. And that’s okay.
If people want to remember me, they can read my words here—through this blog or my other blog. And that’s enough.
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Photo by Ian Keefe on Unsplash
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