BlogHer 2008 Annual Conference

We all know “transparency” is a blogging buzz word. Since 2005 we have been calling personal blogging “naked blogging”, and Jory Des Jardins has been our Naked Blogging leader. But what if you have second thoughts about how sheer your window dressings are? If you’ve encountered something unpleasant because of your openness, something ugly…or even something dangerous, you might be wondering: Can I take it back? Jory will talk to three women who have taken it back to varying degrees. It might be as simple as setting more stringent privacy policies on all your social application tools (and realizing that you actually can set more stringent privacy policies.) It might be going through and masking references to real people and taking down identifiable photos. It might be resolving not to engage in certain kinds of blogging or conversations any more. Or it might get as drastic as trying to eradicate your online identity. Koan, Mena Trott and Tracey Gaughran-Perez have taken some combination of these steps to get a measure of control of their online lives that they felt was lacking…and much-needed. Were they successful at taking back naked blogging?

 

 Who We Are: Can You Take Back Naked Blogging? [76:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

No, this doesn’t only apply to the most common meaning of “coming out”, but rather to taking the brave step to reveal and address something highly personal to your blog community. The risks are real, but what about the rewards? Susan Mernit will moderate a discussion with some very brave bloggers. Stephanie Quilao blogs about health and a positive body image. Making the decision to blog a bulimia relapse risked losing a core audience who counted on her to be a voice of body image reason. How did they react? JenB has been up front about both mental and physical health issues on her blog. Does she feel supported…or judged? Jess Howard blogged about a suicide attempt and felt an outpouring of support…online. But she discovered it was a lot harder for people to interact with her in person, like at BlogHer. Finally, Sarah Dopp did launch a new project about being gender queer. At first she used a pseudonym, although she shared the site with people she knew. Eventually she came out and associated her real name with the site. Was there fallout? Or none at all. Find out how coming out via blog turned out for these women, and share your own story.

 

 Who We Are: Coming Out Via Blog [66:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Are you a free-spirited and totally open blogger who quakes at the notion of meeting people in person? Does your heart pound when you walk into a room populated by more than half a dozen people…whether you know them or not? Are you convinced that you are the only one who feels this way, and that everyone else already knows each other? Well, we are kicking off the Who We Are track by talking about why blogging and introversion actually go so well together, and by offering tactics for getting past your own pounding heart, sweaty palms and paranoid fantasies to actually enjoy an event like BlogHer and get the most out of it. Several bloggers are willing to get up in front of the rest of you (and you know public speaking is ranked as the #1 fear, right?) and share how they manage to overcome their natural tendencies to hibernate and instead have a great time. Shireen Mitchell moderates this discussion with Shannon Glass, Jane Goodwin, Marilyn Porter, who will share their personal tricks for having conquered their nerves and conquered BlogHer!

 

 Who We Are: Introversion, Blogging and BlogHer [67:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download