There is something more shocking about written profanity than spoken in a conversation I think so perhaps that is what I am nervous about? But not nervous enough to cut out the swearing. I like it!

My blog isn’t private but I think about making it private about once a month. I am not thinking this comment helped you at all, but now you know you aren’t alone in thinking these things!

The one exception to the above is people I work with – I don’t talk about the blog at work and wouldn’t do so unless confronted with specific details about it (i.e., “what is this dawnie.com? is that you?” whereas with friends if they say, “do you have a blog?” I’ll talk freely about it).

All that said, it still weirds me out when someone I know in real life discovers the blog and either comments on it or says something to me about it. Over the years I’ve been surprised by the people that have discovered it, somehow (an old co-worker, my parents), but I haven’t really let it stop me. I censor a little more than I did when I first started, although I don’t know if it’s from less of a need to put everything in my brain on the internets or a greater awareness of just how wide my audience can be. Overall, it doesn’t affect me too much, since the actual writing and posting is pretty divorced from the people that will see it, if that makes any sense. (It’s easy to forget how wide that audience is when it’s just you an a browser window.)

If I were you, here’s what I would do: show the blog to your friend B. If you don’t want to do that, show her the blogs of some of the people you like to read – if she finds yours through it and asks, cop to it, if not, don’t worry about it.

As for the social media club – you can always use your Knitblog URL for that. Given the small town scenario you describe, that’s probably what I would do. That one can be your “professional” blog and this can be the still semi-hidden personal one. Could be a good happy medium.