To my fellow bloggers:

We are all exposed…to a self-deprecating, narcissistic degree…in a blogger’s world.

I am referring to my reaction to “Exposed,” by Emily Gould, the cover feature story of the Sunday NY Times Magazine to be published this weekend. Her image is plastered on the NYTimes online version, set for release in hard copy on Sunday (25May08). Her multi-page first series to be subsequently published in upcoming issues, sends a somewhat chilling yet real sense of why we share our lives to the world, even if we are targeting only a handful or circle of family and friends.

Her crescendo in realizing her on-going mistakes of “blogging” is well documented as she offers a play-by-play account of appearing on Larry King Live in defense of “Gawker.” We have – sadly – reached a point of saturation with useless, unnecessary information (at least for those who wish to give every detail of their supposed victim – celebrities – in Gawker’s case) their last piece of privacy as they know it. Many times when one encounters a prominent figure, you have a choice. Treat them respectfully as you’d do any stranger and leave it at that, or as Ms. Gould would offer in her earlier days as a blogger, post her “sighting” online. Imagine if our neighbors or strangers posted our whereabouts 24/7 no matter what we were doing, presuming it was a private matter? There’s no need to interfere or “stalk” them to the point of intrusion, so I would have to heartily disagree with Ms. Gould that the public need not know the whereabouts of their “targets.” We are no longer speaking of our network of associates, family or friends.

Strangers are just that – neither they nor you know them personally – so please leave them be.

Suffice to say, much can be learned from one’s own mistakes. To learn from others is paramount even if one can learn through their mistakes second-hand. Great lesson!