#LetsDiscuss2022 #9 – Private vs Public – #DiscussionSunday.

Commentary, Discussion Challenge, Literary Musings, Memes 3 Minutes

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The question this time is…

As a book blogger, do you prefer to keep your personal life private and off your blog, or do you freely share those things on your blog?

Discussion Sunday 2022

Disclaimer:

These are my personal opinions. I do not expect anyone to agree with anything here, and in fact, I’m certain that many will disagree and/or even hate many of the things I’ve written below. Sorry about that, but you are always welcome to express your own opinions – be they contrary or comparable – in the comments section. So, with that out of the way… let the controversy begin!

What made me think about this topic?

This is something I’ve been thinking about for quite a while now. I’ve noticed that sometimes my fellow book bloggers will put up a whole post about their own, private lives that has nothing to do with books (although often there will be a connection, even if it is tenuous). With the world in such turmoil over so many things, including the pandemic of the past two years, there may be times when we just need to vent. Maybe we just want our followers to know we’re more than just reading and reviewing machines. That we’re humans, and we’re going through this life just like every other being on the planet. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse.

My Thoughts…

The last few years have seen many changes in my life, and I’ve shared a few of them with this blog, but mostly the ones that touch on books. One of the biggest ones in that area was my move to a new apartment, and how a whole box of some of my favorite books went missing in the move. I also told my readers that I had retired from my “day job” and that is now allowing me to read and review more books. On the other hand, I never did a whole post about either of those things. Nor did I write a whole post about how the URLs to my blogs got put in Facebook jail, which led me to moving from Blogspot to here. I didn’t even note here that more recently, my Instagram account was hacked, and because I didn’t get the message soon enough, the hacker changed the recovery email address to their own, and now my account is only getting spam posts although the last time I was able to get in, all my old posts were still there (I was @davidachazan1957 and I’m hoping that account was finally shut down. Let me know if you see it).

However, there are many things in my life that I just don’t feel comfortable about sharing on this blog. I certainly don’t want to discuss politics, since that can be divisive. Mind you, I have made comments on other bloggers’ posts that do touch on politics, but usually only when I agree with the post and have something to say. Religion is also pretty much taboo, except when I’m complaining about how some author got something Jewish wrong in their book. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about my family on my blog – not the good things, and not the bad things – and I certainly never did a whole post about them.

Still, there are a few personal things I’ve revealed. For example, I did talk about the time I had to take a break from blogging because I had surgery on my eyes. I am sure I noted an extended vacation or two over the years. I don’t make a secret out of the fact that I’ve been attempting to write a novel myself, but I haven’t actually written a whole post about it (although I might do one some time in June). I did let you all know that I used to write poetry and I’ve had some published; I even put all those poems up here for your chagrin/enjoyment.

So you can see, there’s definitely a limit to what personal things I’m willing to share with the book blogging world. And the more I think about it, the more I believe that this is the best for me. Sure, that means you probably won’t get to know me on a deeper level than you know me now, but maybe that’s for the best. I guess I’m just not the type of person to put my private heart of my blog’s public sleeves, so to speak. Maybe if we meet one day in real life… or not.

There you have it!

So… what about you?

Is your private life an “Open Book” on your blog?

Or is your blog only for posts relevant to blogging, books, reading, and reviewing?

This post is my 9th entry in the 2022 Discussion Challenge & Giveaway, hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!

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55 thoughts on “#LetsDiscuss2022 #9 – Private vs Public – #DiscussionSunday.”

  1. I don’t share much about my life on my blog. For Sunday post I will talk a little about what I did for the week and I will post picture of my garden. If a book has politics are religion I will talk about it in my reviews and without agreeing or disagreeing. Usually those books are nonfiction.

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  2. I give life updates in my Sunday Posts, and I share things about my family and even occasionally about religion and politics. Getting to know other bloggers (and having them know me) is what makes blogging feel more like a community to me. It makes the relationships I’ve formed feel more personal. But I definitely don’t judge anyone one way or the other about how much they feel comfortable sharing.

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  3. I am a complete open book, for better or worse. Like- I try not to air all my dirty laundry obviously, but if something serious (or not, let’s be real) is happening, I am likely to at least mention it. I just think that is who I am as a person, you know? More private people are likely more private online AND IRL, and less private people aren’t.

    But I also think part of it is that it is, for me, cathartic to just talk about whatever? Like- I have never found posting stuff online to be particularly unsafe, because it’s not like I am giving out any vital info, so. (And quite honestly, if they try to steal my identity, they’ll be woefully disappointed 😂)

    I also absolutely discuss politics, current events, divisive issues, etc, and the reason for that is twofold: One, if I believe strongly in something, I probably want to open up a discussion about it, and two, I want people to know where they stand with me. Kind of like the issue Nicole and I had recently, she and I had both been quite open on how very welcoming our spaces are to every community, which is why it shocked me that someone would link up certain rhetoric. And I do think that the reason we hadn’t had any such issues until this point is precisely because we have been so open about it- no one has to guess where we stand.

    All that said, I rarely do posts ALL about something personal. I can think of only a handful that were not at all book connected, and I think only one or two were on my actual blog, for Shattering Stigmas. Usually I will just throw a few lines in a monthly wrap-up, or whatever, just to “catch up”, you know? I did post one very personal post on someone else’s blog for the Shattering Stigmas event that I was unable to host- mainly to explain why I was absent, but it was also really cathartic to write it all down, and be free of it, as it had been something I’d held onto and kept pretty private.

    I really love this topic, and reading everyone’s varied responses, thanks for sharing!

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    1. I’m glad people are enjoying this topic so much! I don’t judge, I think there are pros and cons for everything we bloggers do or don’t do. And we’re all different people, so we’ll all do things differently, and see things differently. Obviously, if something is cathartic to write, but you decide not to post it, that’s good too!

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  4. Great question – I try to include some things from my own life, to give a bit more understanding of who I am. My faith and (to a much lesser extent) my politics are important to who I am. I think I don’t want an artificial difference between who I am online and who I am in person, but also recognise that being a white man means I can share all that without being anyone’s target.

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  5. You made me think, friend. Perhaps my blog gets too personal sometimes, especially on a Monday Musings or Thursday Thoughts post, but I DO get into “religion” sometimes because I want to be clear on where I stand. I don’t believe in trying to change people’s beliefs or minds, but I DO appreciate it (and respect it) when a person says “I am a…this or that.” It gives me a background to measure their comments and statements against. I do not judge. That’s not my job (Thank goodness!) and I often appreciate being educated on others’ beliefs and religions . It has always been of great interest to me.

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  6. I agree about shying away from political topics and religious ideology- social media seems a better platform for discussing those things, and they definitely can be very divisive. But I was also raised to believe that what you believe, how you vote, and what you make are private topics. I’m very open on my blog about my health- from raising a service dog to being newly disabled to discovering mental health ‘aha’ moments, I feel like it de-stigmatizes these things to keep my space safe for discussing them. But I also have a plain ol’ blog- book reviews are part of it, but not all of it. I can imagine that if my blog was niche to one topic, it might confused my readers if I started posting unrelated personal stuff there.

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    1. Good point… if you can raise awareness to things by telling people about how you are directly effected, that’s not just therapeutic for you, but also could help others.

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  7. Pingback: Monthly Minutes at Midnight: May 2022 ⋆ It Starts at Midnight

  8. I don’t mind sharing personal things but nothing too intimate. People know about me that I moved through several countries. That I am married and have two grown-up sons because I often mention them in blogs about books they liked. I think most know my religion and even my age (guessing from your e-mail address, we might be from the same year). And I am sure they know my political opinion. But I haven’t published entire personal blogposts except for twice in over ten years of blogging when my parents died and I explained why I stayed away for a while.

    But whatever people want to do, I*m okay with that. If someone is very private, I accept that and if someone wants to tell me about their life, that’s fine, too. After all, our blogposts all look different, as well.

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    1. I like to schedule my posts ahead of time, so when I’ve had personal problems or events that would keep me from blogging, they’ve gone live without my being here.

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      1. Oh, I do that, as well. But when my parents died, I stayed away from anything for about three months and I thought that should be explained.

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  9. I rarely share anything personal about family etc., though I did post when my sister died because she used to interact with other blog visitors. But I quite enjoy reading personal stuff from other bloggers. so it’s not that I object – I just don’t have a particularly interesting life! And I don’t take random photos, which lots of bloggers use as a way to share some life stuff. I’m guessing people who read my reviews regularly pick up on my views on subjects like politics and religion anyway – probably more than they want to know…

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  10. I’m kind of the same, although I will occasionally drop in personal bits e.g. if I’ve had a meet up with the offspring, or a nice bookish get together with fellow bloggers or my BFF. But I keep their and my personal info private because too much is given away online. And I don’t do pictures of myself or people I know. I’m happy to share bits of my past when it relates to books, but this kind of stuff is always in very general terms.

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  11. I review books on my own since I am not a professional book blogger, but I do get wrapped up in the stories so much that I tend to feel that somehow it’s my life or some aspect of my life and then I try to defend it or expound on the stories being told. I am not a good blogger since I don’t know how to separate personalities from fiction.

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  12. I’m similar to you, I’ll share some non important personal things if it relates to a book I’m reviewing but otherwise I don’t get too personal on the blog – I always bear in mind it can be seen by anyone!

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  13. Pingback: Sundays with Sam – The Sunday Post – We Live and Breathe Books

  14. I tend to keep my private life to myself but do blog about my holidays. It often feels a little self indulgent but some readers seem to enjoy them. I think you’re right about politics although regular readers will have inferred where I stand, I’m sure!

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  15. I try a little variety but try not to share too much family and personal information.
    Over the years I’ve thrown in posts about a few topics other than books, writing and blogging advice. Mainly road trips.
    This year I have dedicated my Saturday posts to a gardening meme which I am really enjoying.
    A sprinkle of details makes a blogger human and allows readers to make a connection.

    I have a question – do you think that the blogs you follow are purely because you like the type of books reviewed/ discussed or because the blogger seems to be someone you connect with about books in a way that feels like friendship?

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    1. I enjoy your gardening posts, mostly because I’m such rubbish at growing things. I can kill plastic plants!

      As for your question… that’s a good one! A little of both, actually. It would be a great discussion topic.

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  16. My blog is about my journey as a writer and a reader. The longer I blog, the more my blog seems to be an open book of my life. Sometimes I feel strange about revealing some details of my personal life, but I think it makes me more relatable. As an aspiring novelist, I’ve read that that’s one of the things readers want from their favorite authors.

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  17. I try not to share much personal information on my blog. It’s mostly because of internet safety reasons. I don’t want people online finding me in real life unless I privately choose to share that information.

    I once read that you shouldn’t announce that you’re going on vacation on public-facing social media because it informs others that you won’t be at home, and therefore, you could be announcing to criminals that they have a good opportunity to rob your house/get into your accounts/other bad things because they know you’ll be away. Is that actually true in real life, I don’t know, but I adopt a similar mentality when I’m online.

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  18. Your account still looks the same: 219 posts
    841 followers
    1,881 following
    Chocolate Lady’s Book Reviews
    Retired, mildly dyslexic, poet, chocolate gourmet, baker, ice cream maker, avid reader, aspiring author, and #bookblogger with over 450 #bookreviews.
    tcl-bookreviews.com
    Followed by littlemissbooklover87, loreofthebooks, and swirlandthread

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    1. Thanks! I can look at it, but I can’t log in anymore to retrieve my account. I just looked at it today and I see that the two spam posts have been removed, but all the rest remain. Very strange! Thanks.

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  19. I’ll check your Insta account and see what, if anything, is left of it! I always talk about politics and religion and indeed anything current because I get tired of authors who ONLY talk about themselves and their books. Having said that I never discuss my private life other than to give a rough idea of my demographic: middle-aged author struggling with all the usual things that come with being female in a man’s world. And yes, privilege and preference is still given to men in Australia…in every field. But I guess that falls into the category of politics?

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  20. I think I’m like you Davida. I share some things, but keep politics and religion to a minimum. I do try to share personal values though. I almost never do ONLY personal posts. I did write vale posts for my Mum and Dad, but in both I had a bookish thread. I have done some travel posts but always with a bookish thread. And I did do some COVID posts because that seemed relevant to everyone.

    I like bloggers who share bits of their lives, and I don’t mind if some only write about their lives, but I’m a litblogger so my posts almost always start from a literary perspective and build from there.

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    1. Yes… I only wonder if I should share more little bits or not. For example, I just bought a brand, new 2022 car. Doesn’t seem right to talk about that on a book blog, unless I’m reviewing a book about cars, right?

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      1. It’s your blog and you can do what you want to! Seriously! Most readers enjoy personal stories … it’s more about what you want to do and share. Some bloggers do one personal post a week about things that the have done, seen, etc that week. I enjoy those posts.

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      2. I’m not sure if it is worth it, to be honest. In the beginning it was good, and I got some traffic to my blog from there, but ever since Google changed their algorithm, it’s more crickets than traffic!

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  23. I will occasionally say something about my private life on my book blog, but not usually unless it refers to books. However, I do have a personal blog that I update once a week that has a very small audience. It was intended for my friends when I moved away from the area where I lived for 35 years. Even there, I don’t get too personal most of the time, just usually tell what I did all week.

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    1. I didn’t know you had another blog. I was thinking of doing that for my poetry, but I changed my mind when I realized that most of my poems are rubbish. So I took the good ones (the ones that were published) and put them up here instead.

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  24. I don’t write much, because it’s a publicly accessible blog. OK, I don’t suppose that weirdos/spammers are that interested in me, but you never know.

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  25. I share a few little things from time to time but mainly stick to books and opinions about books and reading! I do like when bloggers share a picture of themselves on their about page. (Hint! Hint! 😂😂) I appreciate putting a face to a name! I think a bit of a personal touch is nice but I don’t think we have to bare it all!

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