Blogging Hazards

Hazard #1: The-I-will-tell-you-everything-about-my-life-or-emotionally-vomit-into-cyberspace-sickness.

Nobody wants to read about EVERY detail of your life. And if you have to turn to cyberspace to feel heard, that's just depressing.

Hazard #2: Stranger Danger.

Putting up too much personal information about yourself can present a real safety issue.  I've experienced online stranger danger first-hand and it was creepy! I do NOT want to put myself in that situation again.

These two hazards are at the root of my dilemma about blogging. I want to share, but I don't want to share too much. Add on top of that the fact that my husband is in the military and so there are occasionally things I shouldn't really talk about... and I find myself hesitant to write anything at all.

And that's why I haven't written about our trip to Savannah, my birthday, or Patrick's graduation. At least I have good justification for being a terrible blogger, right?

Caution: Unsolicited opinion ahead!

I have decided that a blog is the PERFECT place to give your unsolicited opinion to the public, so here's is my unsolicited opinion on exclamation marks :)

I've known people who end every sentence they write with an exclamation point.  In fact, I used to be one of those people.  I used to think that using an extra exclamation point would show people that I was really enthusiastic about an idea or especially sincere, but I don't believe that anymore. Now I believe that people should use exclamation points with caution.

Here's why:  When you use exclamation points in excess the emphasis is lost. It's the same concept with highlighters. If you highlight everything nothing will stand out.

So the next time you're tempted to (SHIFT+1)... consider whether you should let your words speak for themselves.