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Voyeurism vs the privilege that is privacy

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I've always made it a point to keep details about my work and the place I work as private as possible.

Sometimes, I guess, it is difficult to reconcile this love of writing about my life that exposes some not-so-private details to many, and the desire to maintain privacy – because a part of me likes the attention that these jottings sometimes attracts, and another big chunk of me hates the scrutiny that it draws. And so, I speak more of my private life, that part that is about my relationship with my husband, my discoveries in my motherhood journey, and the occasional 'thoughtful' two-cents I have about various occasions in life.

Occasionally, my potty mouthfuls and frustrations over my personal life get comments from family who in turn, think it's extremely thoughtful of them to convey the messages to my dear mother and mother-in-law. Yes, I belong to just another one of those typical Chinese family whose favourite 'nothing-better-to-do' in life is to read their relative's blog, form an opinion about that particular biri-biri hitam of the family, and do the good duty of telling tales. With good intentions, they think, but of course, we know better.

There is nothing noble in telling either my mother or my mom-in-law, about the 'juicy' stuff I tweet, facebook or blog. Nothing good in your intentions either, especially when they bring out unnecessary worry and results in me getting unnecessary naggings.

Just saying.

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However, I feel that there is an incredible need for many ardent bloggers to understand there necessity to draw the line between what is bloggable and what is not.

Blogging about your personal life, for instance, is still largely a 'controllable' pursuit. In the case of any negative repercussions, you will still have the space to manage your personal relationships, and family, loved ones and close-friends are far more forgiving people, who will learn to listen and are willing to allow you your space to live your life.

Blogging about your work, on the other hand, especially if it involves name-calling, and bitching about your bosses and superiors, telling tales and names on your peers and colleagues, is such an unbecoming to do. Not only it gives people an unnecessary insight into the way you function at work, it showcases immaturity, unprofessionalism, and is a definite recipe for disaster. It doesn't help that you are working with people who understand the social media stage extremely well – and it doesn't help that people in the office space love this act of 'forwarding' URLs around. We play pass the parcel a lot at work you see, and when you're in this dog-eat-dog universe called the rat race, it's really important you're not a parcelful of messy tales to throw around at work. It won't help that you're very young and trying to carve a living and possibly a reputation for yourself in the industry.

Because, modern employers now surf the net, google names, and look around Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs for information checks and background data. We do this to discover the person you really are, how effective you are at relationships, whether you're a genuine case or a bag of wannabe tendencies, how well you would fit into the work culture.

Or, if you really really wanna bitch about work and colleagues online, for God's sake, be anonymous, do it under a pseudonym, don't lah put photos of yourself up and put your real name by your 'that stupid idiot who is my boss' post.

Just saying.