My choice is to avoid talking about personal information as much as possible. I'm a very private person in real life and I know that my blog is read by my family, my husbands family and my friends. As a matter of fact I know that my mother and mother-in-law read my blog just for drips and drabs of the personal information that I don't share in real life.

My sister-in-law writes a personal blog and it has caused eruptions in the family over opinions that she's posted. Maybe I just don't have the kind of family that's open to honest expression.

Except for the rare trivial personal anecdote I'll stick to politics and the media.

My friends read this. And my husband. But my mother, father, and brother rarely check in.

I know when my father has taken a look, because he usually calls me to tell me that I'm just not as funny as I used to be, and I'm doing it wrong—too personal, not personal enough, whatever. (Naturally, I don't listen too closely: one learns when to tune one's parents out over the years.)

I think may husband may have read mine twice. Once to indulge me and once to see what the fuss was when some MSM types were sniffing about. I ask him every now and then to take a look at the style and design to get his opinion but he really shows no interest in my blog. I guess I can't be too offended because I do think I have the only blog he's ever read.

My parents have been given my blog's address, but rarely read it.

But, like Janette, I'm a very private person - so I don't blog about personal stuff. I do blog about semi-personal stuff once in a while (like hurricanes coming through, or my adventures in attempting to chase a black racer out of my house...).

I don't really understand why people have an urge to tell their life story to total strangers... but whatever floats their boats...

Oh, Kathy. You're so left-brain. ;)

i guess it depends on what your blog is for. i post personal stuff, but then most of the people that read it are friends and family. that way i don't have to remember who i've told what already, and lord knows i never call anyone. ;D

Well! I, of course, shall assume I'm in that nicely well-adjusted bunch. Especially since I don't hold all that much back on my blog. Some. Not much.

I actually feel more comfortable when strangers are reading it than family members - maybe because I'm inblognito. My family rarely checks in, anyway. My *friends and family* blog is really more for others.

When I blog about my problems, I'm making lemonade from lemons. There are times when I know, absolutely, that putting it out there is helping someone else in a similar situation. That, by far, is my *A#1* favorite way to get lemonade.

I like thumbing my nose as the nasties that life can dish out.

And whether or not it helps anyone else, it's still therapeutic for me. If my privacy is truly respected, it's no one's business to judge whether it's *too much.* I disclose little or nothing that could ever hurt me, and I'm certainly startled when I see people putting their face, address, etc. in the net in what I KNOW is a naive way. But that's STILL their business, not mine.

I'm a lameass blogger. I'm inept about the 'sphere. I know so little about it that I had no idea *the confessional style of writing has a huge fan base,* or that blogging would fall into that category.

But I do understand some things about people. And I'm very fond of them, generally speaking, so if any of my thoughts or experiences can benefit or amuse them, great by me.

I have much the same feelings about privacy that you do. One thing that escapes some folks is this: Just because I choose to make some private info public, that DOESN'T mean it's okay for OTHERS to make my private info public. Or to access it for their own PRIVATE use - whether for pleasure, or for some potentially bogus government *need.*