Now Starring… You!

Now that there are over 70 million blogs online (according to the April 2007 Technorati count) and about 120,000 more popping up every day, almost everyone’s a writer. And with all those writers out there looking for inspiration, you might find something you did or said being featured on their site. Not such a big problem… unless you’re uncomfortable sharing your life with millions of potential Internet users.

I touched on this problem on Tuesday, when I looked at the subject from the point of view of the writer. I said that, whether you’re a blogger, e-newsletter writer, journalist, or book author, you have a responsibility to protect the people you write about.

Now let’s look at it from the opposite point of view. What can you do to keep your personal life off limits to story-hungry bloggers?

Seth Godin, author and marketing expert, suggests that you label any communications you want to keep confidential with "NFYB" (Not For Your Blog). That way, you can keep your e-mails, private conversations, and personal life off the record.

But, gee, what’s wrong with good old "CONFIDENTIAL"? That’s been the business standard for probably hundreds of years. I don’t see why we need to jump on Godin’s new acronym. (What was it again? I already forgot.)

[Ed. Note: See a real blog in action at MichaelMasterson.net.]

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