Modern Morals - as they relate to blogging

This week’s Modern Moral on page three of Wednesday’s Times magazine - times2 - looks at the dilemma ...

On “googling” the name of my daughter’s new boyfriend, we discovered his daily internet blog expressing his intimate feelings about my daughter and their relationship. It feels like snooping, but he must realise that there is a risk of our reading it. Is it wrong to read this, or to let on to him that we are aware of it?

Having pointed out that perhaps the boyfriend expects them to read it, Joe Joseph ends his response with the remark:

It surely can’t be unethical to read something published on a publicly accessible internet site. What should bother you is that your daughter is dating a man who thinks it normal to reveal on a blog intimate details of the relationship.

While some youngsters (and not-so-youngsters) won’t be aware that their every online utterance is increasingly traceable, there is an growing understanding that if you want to keep something provide, write it down. That’s the old fashioned writing with a pen, in a paper diary and keep it locked away.

Bloggers and podcasters like Jett Loe (who lives life “out there” on the net) and Jefferson Davis have all ended up deliberately keeping some details of their lives and relationships private. Salacious makes good reading, but sometimes people get burnt through being too open.

I guess it all depends on your individual circumstances and level of exhibitionism! But I'll be keeping Alan in Belfast the way it is for now.

And looking at the blog description up at the top of the page ...

Comment on cinema, books, technology, and the occasional rant about life.

... looks like if I add a review of The History Boys over the weekend, I'll have posted about all of these this week!