The ability to be completely (or seemingly completely) transparent in my blogging is something that I touched upon two blogs ago, yet haven’t quite been able to shake off my brain. I got lots of great comments to that post – okay, I got ONE great comment on that post – and DG suggested it has to do with risk taking. That someone who can just blog honestly about every facet of their lives in a public forum must be a natural risk taker. Jump out of a plane = transparency? Maybe. I’m not convinced. Scott Hodge, suggests (and Scott, please correct me if I am extrapolating too much) that actual journeling – pen… paper… no wires… – is the only way to truly be transparent in your journeling, he says, “…blogging doesn’t count.” There are a few good comments on Scott’s post which reinforce the idea that, while blogging is a good way to keep a journal of sorts, it will always be guarded – always – and less transparent than an acutal journal. I think most people would agree with this. Do you?

Hypothetically…. if it were a goal of yours to become as transparent on your blog as you are writing in a cute, leather-bound journal, what would be the steps to take in order to accomplish it? Here’s where I would probably start…

  • Turn off Comments.
    You don’t have people reading your journal and commenting over the water cooler about your latest entry… how creepy would that be!?
  • Don’t Announce It. Just do it.®
    Just shift your writing style to the damn-it-all-I’ll-talk-about-whatever-i-want-to direction. If people like it, they’ll keep reading. If not, you won’t know because you turned off comments.
  • Erase the Eraser.
    Don’t allow yourself to edit anything but spelling and grammer. If you’re reading your latest entry before publishing and you catch yourself starting to rethink sharing something TOO personal, just hit PUBLISH as quick as you can and walk away.

So, those are just a few practical ways to “police” yourself into being transparent. But, I think the real change needs to happen within, and my opinion is you that don’t have to be a bungee-jumping risk taker to do it. I think anyone can do it. I think YOU can do it. The change takes place when you simply accept the decision that you blog for yourself and nobody else. Let me say it again. You blog for yourself and nobody else. If you are worried about your friends, family, strangers or future generations reading your blog entries – and thinking whatever they will think – than you will never be transparent. Simple as that.

Do you want to be transparent in your blog? After all that, I’m not really sure that I do. Sure, I envy those who can. I envy those who try. I think that I am among those who try. But if it’s not something that you wish your blog to become than it just isn’t for you. Above all, I’m not trying to draw any lines in the sand of “normal” bloggers vs. transparent bloggers. This is just a self-inflicted thought exercise for myself.

What are your thoughts on being transparent in yours or anyone else’s blog? Can true transparency ever actually happen, or are we – as civilized world citizens – always going to pull some punches?