How 'Tweet!

I got an e-mail last week from a fellow Toronto Blogger telling me she saw me in Canadian House & Home Magazine. I had just gotten my own copy in the mail that morning, and had casually flipped through it myself and was pretty curious as to where she had seen me.

There was slight panic, as I hadn't seen any mention, (I mean...what was said??) So I frantically flipped through my magazine and I had to e-mail the fellow blogger back, to ask "where" she saw me. (I couldn't find it!) Anyhow, she e-mailed me back, and here is where I was mentioned...

HA! I laughed outloud. My "tweet" was publicized.

But after giggling, it dawned on me the sobering fact how everything we put out on the internet is visible to all. I knew my tweet was public (duh!) but to see it in print was a totally shocking experience.

Let me explain my sensitivity to what is said on the internet. I once had an acquaintance write a nasty comment in a facebook status indirectly about me. Ouch. What got me was that this person obviously forgot that a status update isn't an inner monologue. What was a flippant comment made by them (publically) was hurtful to me, and I was flabbergasted as to how she thought I wouldn't see it.

Messages we type on the web aren't private - they are very, very public, even if you think that no one is reading. I've kept this in my mind always when I do blog posts. I feel fortunate that I can invite you into my life, so telling you about my concerns about privacy are obviously part of the whole package.

And hey - maybe your tweets will someday pop up in an awesome magazine like House & Home! If they do, hopfully it's something fun like mine!

*What happened with facebook? I turned it into a "family" only application for me, as I decided high school was better left back in the 1990's. :)