WWW

Most of us would be quick to acknowledge that the Internet has changed our lives forever, allowing us instant access to people and information that we didn’t have 15 years ago.  But (as I was reminded earlier today) for some that access brings with it a fear of the potential exposure or damage to our identities or the identities of our family and friends.  

I first became acutely aware of this after posting 20-year-old photos of the two young children of an old friend of mine.  He saw those photos and demanded that I immediately remove them, which I did with profuse apologies.  Today those same children are undoubtedly on Facebook and even have their own web sites.  But their baby pictures posed a threat to their father.

While my daughter was home recently we had a discussion about Blogging in which she  said she could never put herself out there for the world to see and hear the way I do.  I know for a fact that she doesn’t read my Blog and probably never will.

I have numerous readers who seldom if ever leave a comment.  They must find something here because they keep coming back, but there is a real fear of losing that anonymity.

I don’t judge others for their caution.  In fact that’s one reason I allow anonymous comments.  I am probably the only person who has any chance of knowing who these people are by virtue of their location, information I can get from my Statcounter.

I have been known to be too trusting about matters of personal security and I do acknowledge there are people out there with not such great motives.  But when I first began this Blog, I realized I could never write anonymously mostly because I simply can’t keep secrets very well.  For the most part I haven’t experienced any crazy people.  The usual Viagra sales reps show up from time to time.  But no one who wants to do me any harm.

Since there are no Internet police to enforce good behavior, I simply have to trust that most people will do the right thing.  I hope I’m right.