Contemplating Privatization
No, not that kind.
WordPress allows me to password-protect individual posts, if I choose, so that I have a bit of control over who reads them. I’ve never used it, but lately I’ve been thinking about giving it a try once in a while. There are things I’d like to write about but feel I can’t, for various reasons, and using the password-protection feature on individual posts would let me limit access and write some stuff that’s a little more personal.
But then I sort of feel like it goes against the whole tone I’ve set for the website, and I don’t know if I want to do that. From the very beginning, I’ve been interested in sharing my writing with anyone who’s interested in reading it, knowing that this would necessarily limit what I’d be able to write about. For the most part, I’ve been okay with that.
Sometimes, though, I find myself wishing I could write something here for some of you, but not for the entire universe to see. Generally, it’s not anything against anyone – it’s just that some topics are more appropriate for certain segments of my audience than others. Even though I’m very careful about what I choose to share here (believe it or not), I find myself almost unconsciously censoring myself sometimes (especially when my site stats alert me to the search terms people use to find this site) and I don’t like it. I feel like my writing becomes more and more shallow as I cross “approved” topics off my mental list.
So I’ve been thinking of ways around that. I could set a single password for protected posts and give it out to certain people. I could set a different password for each protected post and make people email me for each one, which is kind of a pain in the ass but would allow more flexibility with who’s allowed to read each post. I could set up a mailing list and send out protected posts Victory Shag style. I could set up a whole new blog.
Maybe I should be more brave. Or maybe I should continue with the current policy, which is basically that if it’s not okay for someone to read it, then it’s not okay for anyone to read it, and it won’t be written.
I don’t know. I hope to write a book one day, and I know that I won’t be able to restrict access to that.
I’m really interested in your thoughts on this.
I think you should start a new blog and only tell a few people about it.
I stopped reading at “thought of giving it a try” and only noticed the “I hope to write a book one day”… so here’s what I think:
Do what you want. Don’t think about it; lives will not be ruined and, if I’m guessing correctly, The Uninvited will not even be aware they’ve been excluded – and if they are then you’ve got a problem of having to tell them Each and Everytime “no” again and again. So that’ll be a problem and makes the change a bit too-much-work. On the other hand, well, maybe I don’t have a firm idea about “your audience” but, really, is there that much to handle or, really, are you only thinking about several people you want to exclude? I mean, you’ve already brought the issue up; you can “it’s-not-exclusion-it’s-selection” all you want but some may already be uncomfortable thinking they’re getting dumped.
I say Be Brave – but about whatever way you want to go about it. Put it out there or make it private but don’t Not Write ’cause you can’t decide.
Anyway, maybe you just need to take your mind off things for a while, you’re putting on your underwear backwards and who knows whatelse. Here’s the cover of the March issue of Vanity Fair, featuring a naked Keira Knightly and naked Scarlett Johansson and, oh yeah, that dreamy-if-cowardly, Tom Ford. In fact, I propose you send the password for restricted posts to The Invited and this link to everyone else.
i say make a new blog and tell no one… then if at some later date you feel compelled to let people read stuff… you can tell people about it, or publish it in your memoirs… and if you’re totally annonymous on the new blog… like name yourself shelia or something, then people can’t find you either unless you tell them where you are
I tried the new blog thing, and it didn’t work out so well. Be careful not to waller. Or do waller and, as ~A says, realize that lives will not be ruined, but I mean, it has to feel alright to you. Only you can know if wallering is good or bad for you. Or if Privacy is or if any of this is.
I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I’m going to Magic Marker *your* car tonight!
I say password protect entries. I have tried the new blog thing in the past and it just gets to be a pain in the ass. I try to explain things that my “normal” readers would have already known about, even though I don’t really know who I’m explaining them for. Does that make sense? Probably not.