Sharing Life, when is it too much?

This discussion post is probably going to be a bit all over the place so I apologise for that. I initially thought about not posting this but then again, I wanted to. If the entire post makes no sense, blame my brain. He’s being annoying because of exams and the whole studying thingy and I honestly wrote this today after finishing my classes like two hours ago (it was 10 pm in case you were wondering)...

Alfie Allen feels me...

Anyways, a few weeks ago I saw a movie called Ask Me Anything, featuring a bunch of very well known actors such as Brit Robertson, Justin Long, Christian Slater and Martin Sheen among others, about a young girl, Katie, who starts writing a blog. In the blog she details her life; everything she’s going through without sugaring it. She writes about stuff that happened to her, the problems she had regarding family, friends and (sexual) relationship. Although she uses different names and alters some details, her entire life is out there. It is public and therefore open for everyone to read, judge and criticise (believe me, they do).

While I was watching the movie, I started thinking (because that’s what you do, right?). I consider myself a blogger but unlike Katie I only blog about books which normally don’t let room for much more, meaning that my personal life is not really involved in my blogging experience besides some bits and bobs about me here and there. However, I do have Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr accounts that I use regularly. The last two are also book related and even though I use my Twitter account to promote my blog, I also use it sometimes to chat about me and the things I do in my normal life without giving a second thought about what consequences those info exchanges can have.

Of course I know I’m not actually risking much by posting little stuff about me but what about openly telling people you don’t personally know things about your life? I love me some “diary blogs” in which people tell you their life experiences in story form. Most of the time names, places and small details are altered for privacy reasons and I don’t have a problem with it really since, in my opinion, blogging is about sharing, having fun and connecting with other people. But, where should people draw the line? When sharing becomes too much?

Maybe, or maybe not, you know about an Internet page (in lack of a better word) called ask.fm, where people ask others questions and they decide which ones to answer and which ones to ignore. For me, that is too much. I’ve seen people tease and bully others because of the answers they posted. Every day more and more people joined in the bullying. Some used personal pictures to make fun of them and you know the real problem? You can’t do much about it because those pictures and information are public and everyone can use them. Horrifying much? I think so. But should people stop posting whatever they want out of fear? Nope. We are free to do whatever we want and nobody can't tell us otherwise and any personal attack to others just because is easy to use that information against them is simply...

Listen to the hunky Swedish guy here kids!

Internet is, and I’m using the quintessential metaphor here, like an iceberg: what we see on the surface is beautiful and very appealing but what is below is huge, dark and scary. Still, I refuse to believe the Internet is an awful place to lose yourself and share snippets of your lives with others. Why? Because since I’ve started blogging I’ve had the opportunity to connect with people all around the world who share my same passion for reading. Do I regret that? Absolutely not. But, am I aware of what I’m sharing? You bet. I may not give much away about my life or myself but if I feel like sharing, I’ll share.

So, what are your thoughts on the matter? Do you mind sharing without taking into the account the consequences? Or are you self-aware of what you write on your blogs or other media? Where would you draw the line? Let’s discuss!