Help Make this a Less Nepotistic World
Next week I’ll be teaching high school students the joys of blogging. And the dangers. I’m curious to get your thoughts on both.
In the first session I’ll be covering safety and security issues. What to post, what not to post, what absolutelynever to post (ie address, phone numbers, right?). Some bloggers use handles. I use my name because I want friends and family to feel comfortable participating in the blog atmosphere. Plus I’ll do anything for name recognition. I’m a child of the no-such-thing-as-bad-publicity era. Are we still in this era?
How do you determine what to post or what not to post? Some people say not to post something if it would make you uncomfortable for your mom to see it/know it. You could extend this to your boss, since it seems that many of them are now trawling the net. Or your future child? Since, apparently information and pictures can be retained in online conduits forever.
My aim isn’t only to scare the new bloggers, though. There are good reasons for blogging that I’d like them to know as they set out to create blogs of their own. I like having a place for discussions on topics like this very one I’m writing about now and that I hope you’ll take up with me, a topic I wouldn’t have much opportunity for discussion in my everyday dealings. Or about visual readings of poems; Montaigne’s personal essays; copyright infringements; histories with Liz Phair; getting dates by proclaiming you’re a writer; writing a book-length manuscript in a month; and best sidekicks in literature. Through blogging we can find people who will discuss our obscure interests with us. What else do you like about writing and reading blogs?
In the second session I’ll be leading a series of activities that will, I’m hopeful, result in a draft of a personal essay blog for each student. I’m planning on showing some samples of favorites, several of which I found through Creative Nonfiction’s blog finalists:
This one is about a fascinating conversatoin between a woman and her hairdresser.
This one is about a fascinating discovery one makes by being hungry on a Greyhound bus.
This one explores a door in Sayulita and what its darkness can mean.
Here we see a rushing academic mother reflected in her daughters’ scowls and perceptions.
And here we hear from a mail carrier who dreams of moving to Maine or farther away from America.
I have to admit that one I found on Creative Nonfiction’s blog finalist list is also my friend! Jennifer Sullivan. Though I had not known she was chosen by CNF until I visited the site. And toddlerspit is also a friend of mine. And so is the mail carrier of parkloop fame. So, I’m asking for suggestions from you—to help make this a less nepotistic world.
What do I want from you? Blog recommendations! Who else is posting exceptional personal essay type stories on blogs—particularly youth. I think the high school students would like to see what their peers are up to.
Thanks for your tips, insight, and ideas.
Tags: American Stories NOW, creative nonfiction, Jennifer Sullivan, Parkloop, The Ugly Truth, Toddlerspit
It is important to know that people get fired for things they write in their blogs (and/or facebook/twitter). I think it’s great that you’re pushing them toward personal essay type blogs instead of the online rant variety. Some that I like (not necessarily by/for youth… sorry):
sevenspoons.net (food blog that uses personal essay to preface amazing recipes and photos)
A Cup of Jo (joannagoddard.blogspot.com): Not always personal essay (lots of surface level photos, etc) but the more essayish posts tend to be pretty cool (she’s a new mom so lately it’s birth stories and breastfeeding)
Aarti Paarti (www.aartipaarti.com): New Food Netword star who has been writing this blog about food and life for a long time, and now narrates some of her TV experiences
Thanks, Laura. I look forward to checking these out!
Well – there’s this – which shows that you shouldn’t use work computers or work time to post inflammatory remarks on your blog:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/09/students-lawyer-speaks-out-on-shirvells-firing/
Also, this opens up the interesting bullying vs. free speech issue.
Then there’s this(Very long and ugly link) to a yahoo news article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101109/ap_on_hi_te/us_facebook_firing;_ylt=AgtQNr25tZ0ZfMN2FfHQYX134T0D;_ylu=X3oDMTJmM2EwMm90BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMTA5L3VzX2ZhY2Vib29rX2ZpcmluZwRwb3MD
About a new case regarding the legality of firing someone over facebook comments.
Then – the hufpost is a blog. Lots of personal essay type stuff. (WRITTEN BY CELEBRITIES!)
Stuff about whether or not you should write about your boss doesn’t seem all that important to high school aged people – but writing slanderous things about classmates and bullying them through words – that might be an issue they are more familiar with.
It’s interesting–you can get fired for spilling company secrets at an engineering firm, or you can get fired for calling your boss at Taco Time a dirty word. I don’t know about all the legality issues–interested to read the article you link to–but I know it happens.
Photos, too, can get you into trouble, but I think Facebook is making that something more college and high school students are aware of.
I think it boils down to what you sign and agree to when you are hired. So, if insubordination towards an employer is grounds for firing then bye-bye. If you signed a condfidentiality clause and aren’t confidential – bye. The issue with the facebook posting is interesting because if you don’t call your boss a jerk to his or her face is it insubordination? Or, is it guaranteed under your first amendment rights? NPR is doing a piece on that too.
Ah, these are wonderful links, Datsun. Thanks! This is just the sort of information I was looking for.
Whenever I post anything online (and I mean anything—from Twitter, to Facebook, to any other social networking site, to my website, to blogging here, to comments on other blogs, to email correspondence with someone that might, just might end up public) I’m always thinking of my digital identity. What ideas do I want to leave people with about who I am?
Some people manage to go all out and create totally new identities, but that’s actually incredibly difficult to do, because your real life follows you around on these sites, and they’re certainly easier to maintain with one identity. But what I emphasize when I talk to people about this (this was a big topic in my undergrad major and I’ve been back to discuss this with students) is that while it takes a long time to increase what others perceive as your level or expertise or professionalism, it only takes ten seconds to damage it.
Case in point, Sarah Palin’s recent supposedly accidental favoriting of Ann Coulter’s picture tweet referring to Obama as being a Muslim-elected President, or something like that. Instead of using the moment as a teaching or learning experience and taking responsibility for the message she sent into the world, accidental or otherwise, she lashed out at the liberal media. And that’s another thing to emphasize in blogging (though it sounds like you got there already): you’re responsible for what you put out there. And merely deleting something doesn’t erase it from the monster that is the Internet. (archive.net anyone?)
But like you said, too, there is a lot to be gained. Voice, for one thing. The ability to be heard, and to tell a story. And to have control (to a certain extent) over what that story is.
Also, I do follow the Mom Rule, which is why every account I have, everything, I leave public. It sort of self-censors me and forces me, if I do go over the line, to own up to that rather than to hide behind anonymity or privacy so that I learn and hopefully don’t screw up the same way again.
As for blogs, I can’t think of anything that really fits the mold of what you’re looking for. Sorry!
This is beautifully articulated, Kathryn. I think I might pull some of your quotes for the students if that’s okay with you. I’ll credit you, of course! Unless you don’t want me to.
Absolutely!
I agree, the importance of the Mom Rule cannot be overstated – since she’s the only one reading your blog.
Okay, folks. Before I turn in, I just have to say my above comment was not directed at any one person – certainly no one here, except perhaps myself – it was simply offered as something one might say to a classfull of prospective bloggers. It’s just a nice thing to remember when there’s “0 Comments,” again. Of course, Shira wouldn’t know what that feels like. I am not a bitter person. Good night.
I hear you, man. My mom is one of the few people who reads my posts. It’s just the reality of the situation. Moms rule.
Now I’m going to go cry because my mom DOESN’T read! :)
Shira,
Yoy may be interested in checking out HCI Book’s Louder Than Words series. They are memoirs written by teens, each one dealing with something like overcoming addiction or living with a chronic illness. Here’s the site for the book series: http://www.louderthanwordsbooks.com/.
Each one of the authors also blogs. If you click on the link “The Books” and any of the “meet the [author]” links you can access their blogs.
Have fun teaching the class!
Thank you Life-Saver-Asa! My life is so much better with you in it.
Hi. I’m the blogger over at the ugly truth. First, I wanted to thank you for leading readers to my blog. (And as far as I know my mother doesn’t read my blog. Not that I’ve posted anything recently.)
I have some blog suggestions–not that these are any less nepotistic:
http://buddhistboy.blogspot.com/
http://steinerdonna.blogspot.com/
http://www.planet-of-the-blind.com/
Thanks, Jaquira, for the blog suggestions! I really love your blog and (selfishly) hope that you continue to write posts. The high school blogging class and I looked at excerpts from “Roadtrip #12: Goodbye to All This…” for inspiration. It worked–they became inspired and wrote some excellent personal essay blog posts.
[...] been thinking lately about Shira’s discussion of blogging and introducing high school students to a world of Internet communication wider than Facebook, [...]