I’ve been thinking a lot about anonymity. There have been some weird happenings with those I know online: evil stalker ex-husbands, custody issues, photos being swiped and put onto fetish sites, etc. I don’t have an ex-husband or even any stalker ex-boyfriends. My husband and I are firmly entrenched in this marriage and don’t have any plans to divorce and fight over the kids. I chose to share images of my family with you all and if someone I don’t want shows up and gets off… I just don’t want to know about it. Admittedly, it still gives me pause. How do we protect ourselves and our children when the web leaves you so exposed? What kind of terrors are we opening ourselves up to anyway? Don’t tell me. I really don’t want to know.
BUT, I wonder if I should change the names to protect the innocent. And would changing names be sufficient or should I no longer post photos? What kind of limitations would I go to next? Do I want to worry about every little thing I post? Do I want to live in fear?
I love posting and I love reading and all this CRAP has me just a little depressed. I want to be able to share my life with others and not have to live closed off or afraid of what could happen. I want to have faith in my community. The friendships I have forged based on nothing more than some photos and thoughts are important to me. I don’t want to close myself off from those possibilities.
I guess it just comes down to this: the internet is a wonder of wonders and a cranky bitch. Bahhh!
Edited to Add: The happy family has changed our names. My husband, when I informed him that I was going to hereby be known as "HippieChick", grinned like a fool and asked, "Can I be HippieSkippy?" So there you have it. I will be HippieChick and he will be HippieSkippy. The kids get to keep their names for now. I'll be converting stuff as I can, so don't be surprised if you see both versions of our names for a while!
Edited AGAIN to Add: We switch again... we're annoying like that. See this post for the whole skinny.
