Blogging in Time

In 2004, Merriam-Webster.com's most searched-for definition was "blog". Time Magazine has an article up entitled "10 Things We Learned About Blogs" that gives a list of a few things "we discovered about the new medium this year."

I think that for some of the list's points, Time is a little behind the times.

Link via Bene Diction Blogs On.

Web-Publishing

"It has been interesting, these past 2 years, blogging thoughts and observations and funny things and quotes and hopes and dreams and daily occurances and the like. What is blogging? What is a blog? What is it's purpose? What is okay to blog? What is not okay to blog?

My thoughts on these subjects have changed since I first started web-publishing, and they continue to change. My style has change. People I know and don't know have read what I've written. I've somehow gained an audience.

Some come to read daily, some come weekly, some stop by every once in awhile, some come once and never return.

Some surf in off comments I've left elsewhere, from links from other blogs, from articles on other websites, and many from search engines far and wide.

Sometimes I wonder if I should get rid of my archives. They're past thoughts after all, they were from the time. But sometimes that is exactly what I love about blogging, it's a glimpse into someone's life at a certain time. It's a memory, but unlike memories, isn't quite so fleeting.

A blog is like a journal. With that, it's a personal look into the persona of a specific person, and often, even the inner self. People change, their writing changes. Their writing, however, reflects who they were at that specific time in their life. As does their memory.

Today I got a request from someone from my past to remove their name from my blog. They were upset and stated that I did not have their permission to use their name in any form let alone on the internet.

Sometimes I wonder if I should start from scratch again. I always thought it was odd when people did that on their blogs. But if something hurts, it shouldn't be on the internet, especially on my site, because that is not what I want to do.

I'm sorry."
- from Mikao's World.

Have you ever been asked to remove something from your blog?

Have you ever asked anyone to remove something from their blog?

How careful are you when mentioning names?

What is not okay to blog about?

Do you have guidelines?

Any other thoughts on this topic?