I agree with your stance on showing Flickr photos and the like. Doing posts like these lets your audience know that you are a human being and that your blog is not on auto pilot.

Of course, the amount of availability for contact is entirely up to the individual. As was mentioned above, too much availability could lead to not getting anything done.

All in all, good post with lots of points.

I’m not sure if you knew this or not, but my work filter blocked your blog as showing “Adult Content”. Damn Websense. Just FYI.

For the amount of time I’ve had my Skype username out there, only two people have contacted me. One of them called me. It wasn’t too freaky. It was almost like taking a business call.

Thanks for the compliments on the article.

On Flickr I only have public photos that I wouldn’t mind the world seeing. I do have special albums that are family only, and some albums that are friend only.

On Facebook I usually only add people I know from somewhere, such as through this site or offline. Most people only see my limited profile.

You bring up a good point about privacy and how willing one is to put themselves out there. Sometimes I like to err on the side of caution and not make it too difficult for people to reach me.

One thing I do know… I do NOT want people calling me. In almost 15 years on the computer and online, I’ve given my number to three online friends. And that’s the thing, we’ve got to be really good friends before I talk to you. I really don’t want customer type calls.

This is helpful, though. Thanks for the article.

When I’m not at my blog, I’m usually sleeping. And sometimes I dream of blogging.

I think the amount of personality a blogger shows in their blog ought to depend on the topic they are are writing about and what audience they are targeting. People targeting a professional or even client or new employer audience may want to be careful about how much they give away about their personal life. Also using the Kathy Sierra case in point, if your topic is even just a tad bit controversial, you might want to think twice about how much information you give about yourself.

However, I will say I do tend to expose some of my political leanings usually in an abstract way through my blog posts, but hopefully not to detract from the original point of my technical posts. Therefore, I certainly convey something somewhat personal about myself in that way.

I am curious just how open people are with purely virtual “friends” or even just acquaintances. For example, do you accept friend requests on FB from anyone that just says “I read your blog and like it” or do you only accept after adding them to the Limited Profile access list. Alternatively, do you ignore if you haven’t corresponded with them at all previously or are there other factors you use to determine this?

I have personally *tried* to only accept friend requests on Facebook with my real world friends, where I do not worry about them seeing photos of me in odd situations or notes where I discuss personal details. I do have a five people on my Limited Profile, which are people I have communicated over email with, but haven’t met in person yet or don’t know particularly well.

I suspect my guardedness does limit the appeal of my blog and it’s content, but as others have mentioned, I am definitely not a full-time blogger (and not sure if I really want to be either even if I could – so perhaps this is comment is moot).

Each blogger will have different comfort levels in this area, so I am curious where others draw the line and what criteria they choose for various types of networks (Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, YouTube, IM/AIM/GoogleTalk, etc.)? For example, on Flickr do you make a point of limiting the types of photos you show publicly? If so, what are your criteria? I still haven’t made my own consistent policies yet!

Perhaps some of your have two profiles. One for your blogging persona and the other for your private life? Where do you draw the lines?

Thanks,
S

No problem at all. I got the just of what you were saying. If every one of the readers here chose to contact me at the same time, it would be impossible. However, some of the points I raised have to deal with offline bonding. It provides the “me too” effect.

For example, someone else reading this blog might enjoy running and learning Spanish, and if she’s single and lives in Alabama, she would ideally contact me.

Thanks for weighing in.