Anyone troubled by questions about why I, or any blogger, posts what they post when they post it — how they decide what is public — how to think about maintaining a public web site of any kind — should check out this piece on Danny O’Brien’s Oblomovka that talks about inherent differences between public websites, private conversations, and the little spaces between. I particularly like this observation:
The problem here is one (ironically) of register. In the real world, we have conversations in public, in private, and in secret. All three are quite separate. The public is what we say to a crowd; the private is what we chatter amongst ourselves, when free from the demands of the crowd; and the secret is what we keep from everyone but our confidant. Secrecy implies intrigue, implies you have something to hide. Being private doesn’t. You can have a private gathering, but it isn’t necessarily a secret. All these conversations have different implications, different tones.
Most people have, in the back of their mind, the belief that what they say to their friends, they would be happy to say in public, in the same words. It isn’t true, and if you don’t believe me, tape-record yourself talking to your friends one day, and then upload it to your website for the world to hear.
Food for thought.
