S.’s Comments (group member since Feb 29, 2008)

S.’s comments from the Blurb group.

Interesting concept to bring up. I've heard some of the buzz about this in the news and do think people get a little too free and easy with themselves when they blog or tweet or whatever option they use to share what's going on in their lives. My thoughts are along the lines of being a bit more cautious because what you say can come back to haunt you. If, as a writer getting started or in a lull after a fruitfull career, you need to go out and get a job in the mainstream, one could regret certain public sharings in the future.

Is it fair to be judged by prospective employers? Possibly not. Though if you promote yourself as living a certain lifestyle or engaging in certain activities, it would be fair for an employer to "judge" that you may not be the kind of person they want to represent their company or business. This could be especially harmful to employment prospects in the realm of education. And we constantly see the financial damage done to sports figures or actors who get dropped from promoting brands because of their activities—and how those choices impact image and product endorsements.

I don't think being a writer gives you an advantage unless you are, say, writing a book on nutrition or tatoos and have experience in that area. LOL Or, let's say you are writing a book about getting your life back on track from drugs or gang-related living. Then that background could prove that you know what you are talking about. However, claiming to be something you aren't is problematic, as well (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Millio...) and can be just as damaging to the career of a writer. So, I guess it's all up to the individual how much risk they want to take with sharing their life story in public venues—keeping in mind that the public may forget but, as soon as you reach a certain level of fame, the press will dig it all up again. And since we all know—or should—that whatever we publish, from e-mails to blogs, is never really private, we can't very well whine and complain if someone digs that up and tries to use it against us in the future, can we? ;-)

Thanks for the discussion!

Nice clean looking site. I'll have to look it over more carefully when I get to the point of being ready to publish.

I think it's an interesing idea, if you want that kind of exposure. Another thing you need to worry about, besides someone ripping off your ideas or keeping your rights, is that once it is "out there" and everyone with an Internet access can read it, you will have a harder time selling it to a publisher or mag as a 'frist run' type of thing. First rights become an issue. At least, that's what I have been learning the hard way. Publishers want "first rights" and if it's already out there, there aren't any. But, seems to me there is a way to go about it that might work. Like, toss some stuff into the mix, then use the original to edit it into a newer piece? Just an idea--I'm still learning at all this, myself.