Should You Tell People About Your Blog?

Do you tell people you know in real life about the fact that you have a blog? And if so, do you you share your blog with them? Or do you make an effort to keep your blog hidden from people you know?

I ask because I am unsure of what to do. Up until this point, I have not worried too much about friends and acquaintances finding my blog; I haven’t written anything that could offend them, or that they could know is about them. I’ve even shown my blog to people.

Now I wonder whether that was the right thing to do.

You see, I’d like to have the freedom of being able to write about people I know without running the risk of them reading those posts. I acknowledge that there probably aren’t that many people who I’ve told about my blog that still read it. But there is still a tiny risk.

Another factor to take into account is that people have ways of finding thisizapen without me telling them about it. For example, my Instagram. Many folks I know in real life follow my Instagram. I have a link to this site in the bio. People might get curious and tap the link. That could be my social life finished.

I don’t say this because I want to write solely negative things about people I know in real life. Sometimes I am simply fascinated by their behaviour. But I still run the risk of saying something that offends them. Either that, or they might think that I view them more highly than I actually do just because I’ve written a post about them. God, I sound like a bitch. But I just don’t want people thinking I obsess over them. I also don’t want people to be embarrassed if they find something about them, or feel awkward talking to me after reading it.

Then, of course there are the times when friends and acquaintances tick me off and I want to be able to vent about them and theorize about their thinking and motives. It would be bad if they read what I had to say about them. But then again, it might also be a good way of letting them know that they went too far?

Even if I don’t write about people I know, there are reasons I might not want them to find my blog.

1. They could jump to conclusions about me.
2. They could use it as a way to “spy” on me.
3. They could use something I’ve said on here against me in an argument.
4. They could judge me based on it.
5. They might think I’m stupid just because they don’t share my opinions.
6. They could make me feel awkward by bringing up something I’ve said on my blog and questioning me further about it.
7. They could misunderstand my opinions.

There are a few posts I’m thinking of publishing, that I can only write if I stop telling people I know in real life about this blog.

One of them is something I’m actually writing, in which up until now I’ve tried to avoid using certain people as examples, despite them being the reason I’m writing the post. I’ve been trying to make it as objective as possible. I’m now wondering whether to change it and make it about the people I know.

Of course, I also like to hold the belief that everyone will hear about my blog anyway, someday, because it will become famous and my posts will go viral.

What do you think I should do? Do you want to hear about these boring people? Or is it too risky? What approach do you take with your blog?