Politically Correct Posting

As more and more of our lives are being made available on line for all to see, we must be careful what we volunteer. We are in charge of some of the disclosures. That which we can control, we should control. People lose jobs, spouses, friends, careers, money, and lives over the stuff that they voluntarily post online, whether in blogs like this, via emails (that get forwarded to the "wrong" people), via chats, via MySpace pages, YouTube, Flickr, etc.

I've been "warned" by concerned co-workers that my current employer, like so many others, are using, or contemplating using on-line references for new, and even current employee weeding. You can't hardly pick up a newspaper, "public" magazine, let alone a tech journal without reading an article about employer snooping -- "Did you know that they are?" "What are their rights, what are yours." Those are the headlines that grab your attention.

I've been very careful not to provide enough information for the casual reader of this blog to identify me, my employer, my family, etc. At one level, that's a shame. Blogging is about sharing. It's about letting others share your thoughts, feelings, perspectives, ideas, knowledge. It's about building a community. It's about free press -- exposing the man behind the curtain -- in some cases.

But this is the reality in 2007. We hide behind the Internet's anonymity while trying to expose ourselves (figuratively only in my case I promise!).

In recognition of that juxtaposition, I have censored my true thoughts on the subject.

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There! I said it. I'm glad I got that off my back...