I was recently in a situation that made me consider how much of my personal information is out on the web. For my personal life, I didn't think it mattered much if the world knew places I was going or things I was doing. My thought process was - hey - why not let the world know?
And then this situation came about where I felt threatened. These people knew my name, so what else could they find out about me if they looked ? Turns out, quite a lot. A blog post, a FaceBook post, or a "places" check-in and anybody could find me. I've got to say it left me feeling pretty vulnerable.
I abruptly stopped blogging, and stopped all facebook activity. That just made me feel isolated, and that just isn't me. So - I have to consider ways to continue putting myself out there, without putting too much of myself out there.
It will forever change the way I interact on the web, I will post after events instead of before, for example. And the pepper spray is probably a permanent addition to my purse.
My situation has calmed, and I am none the worse for wear. Please, consider the information you put on the web. I really never though it mattered, until it did.