Privacy on the Net

I think dealing with issues of privacy are certainly important for this kind of writing venue. Let's face it: we're taking our discussions and moving out of the normal, safe writing sphere of the classroom, in which only a few selected students and a professor or two generally have access to the texts we create. That in itself allows for a kind of writers' vacuum to develop around us all, a shield of imperviousness that makes writing on the net somewhat of a hazard.

So, in some respects, we're brave individuals. This was a strange, scary, odd sort of project, but one that can certainly pay dividends in the future (thinking back to my topic). For me, the privacy afforded me in writing on finance is controlled by a few factors: not using my full name; my husband's request that I severely limit my listing personal financial data in a public place, like listing my actual bank or yearly salary; the knowledge that students of mine will read my writing and respond; and a bevy of other concerns. Of course, being a newbie on the financial front is never something that's easy to admit, as much as it's to admit that while I do not balance my checkbook on a daily basis, I do track my investment/retirement accounts quite obsessively. With all this information floating out on the information superhighway ether, I've actually felt quite insulated so far.

Well, until I read this ominous article today from MSNBC: Threats stifle some female bloggers: Sexual harassment on the rise in blogosphere. And, of course, a concern that stems from a previous post of mine (where are all the women in finance?) reaches cyberspace. This is the place that we're generally getting our most updated information. The Internet, of course, is not a magic balancing act, a place in which equality rings perfectly true each time. But there is a good lesson in all of this craziness. There are always limitations that are not only placed on our writing (by the school, by a professor, by a boss) from outside but also those from within. You'll notice in the article above that self-censorship seems to be the fall-back position people take to protect themselves. Certainly, I've done it in previous posts by not discussing particular details in this investment game I've joined, and I have been frustrated by my inability to be perfectly honest.

But can we ever be perfectly honest? In academia, certainly not. Students are limited by the parameters of the assignment, the time and energy needed to write, and the goals of the assignment, teacher, school, class, etc. There are sometimes too many variables to count. Hopefully the main thing is that we learn context, the ability to self-censor when it is advantageous to us. There is nothing wrong with positively manipulating the situation as long as self-censoring doesn't lead to lying. Think of it as the "sin" of control. Sometimes people don't deserve to know everything. And that includes your professors! However, there are always things they should know, or the readers of your blogs deserve to know: your agenda, your goals, your details as pertaining to specific topics. They all deserve to know where you researched, and what words are yours versus what words/ideas can be attributed to others. There are certain rules to play this blogging game just as much as there are to write a paper or send an e-mail. It all depends.