Internet Safety
It was noted in a recent email that I don’t have much identifying information on my blog. I tend to be a private type which really goes against the idea of the blog I guess. On the internet we are as anonymous as we can be or as we choose to be. You might have noticed that I don’t have any photos of myself posted. I also don’t mention my kids’ or wife’s name. Not that that keeps people who really want to know about me from finding out, but I like to think that it protects me a little. I am perplexed by those who put photos of themselves and their kids on the internet. My sister-in-law has a MySpace account and posts photos of my four year old nephew. The internet makes it easier to find out about people, get their names and even stalk them.
Why give someone an upper hand when they have most of the tools they need to snatch our kids up off the street? I am a bit of an internet paranoid, thinking of the (few) stories of people who have fallen victim to foul play because they put too much personal information on the ‘net for others to read. I guess that’s really not the majority of the stories out there or we would hear more about it. For instance, my ex-wife met some guy online (and ran up a $9,000 long distance bill to boot) who lived in Italy. She flew there to meet him and everything. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I can tell you this: she was not killed or maimed by this guy. I’m very puzzled. I have never met anyone IRL (in real life) whom I have met through chatting or blogging, but I certainly chat with those whom I have met in the flesh. In fact, after having met my wife (before she was my wife) I started chatting with her online. Sometimes the internet is like alcohol, it makes us freer, looser with the other person. We are more willing at times to tell strangers about our flaws than our closest friends or even our spouses while still pretending that no-one knows our secrets. Next time, I may have to point you to my web site circa 2000, and yes it’s still floating out there.
PS – any grammar errors are attributed to a wine called Wrongo Dongo. It’s good stuff, but it can’t type for crap.
