When you are a content creator and blog about health it is so important that you be as open as you feel comfortable but at the same time, you need to set boundaries for yourself because there are some things you should not share publicly and keep private. As a disabled blogger, I am open about a lot of my health issues and sometimes people may think that they know everything about me, but the reality is I don’t share everything publicly even though it appears that way and I only share what I want people to know. There are a lot of things I do not share on the Internet because it is not important, would be a security risk, or is not my business to share. What should you not share on the Internet? In this post, I am going to talk about a few things that I have never shared publicly and never will.
The names of my doctors without permission– When I write about my health, I talk about the types of doctors that I see but if you were to read every post of mine the one thing you would never see is the names of my doctors unless I have been given permission to do so. There is nothing wrong with sharing details about your health that you learn at medical appointments because you are free to talk about your health as much as you want but you should always leave the names of your doctors out of blog posts unless they have given you permission. I blog to talk about my health and when you give specific details about your doctor you are violating their privacy rights, and they may not want their name public on your blog, and you should respect that. Most of my doctors do not even know I blog, and it would be very wrong of me to share the names of my doctors if I didn’t talk to them about it. People knowing the names of my doctors are not important for my blog because I can blog about my health effectively without people knowing who my doctors are.
My full name– I have my first and middle name public, but I have completely dropped my last name and you will not find it on any of my public platforms. The reason I don’t have my full name is to protect my family because the one thing content creators always have to think about is being stalked. When you don’t have your full name, it doesn’t mean you won’t be stalked but it does make it more difficult for people to get personal info. Choosing not to have my full name on public platforms is a choice that I have made but not every content creator will make that same choice, and some people do have their full names. I do not share my full name not only to protect myself but also to protect my family because I don’t need total strangers stalking my loved ones.
Health of family members- I have mentioned I have four sisters but never have I mentioned the name of my sister for privacy reasons. If someone in my family were to be having a health problem I would not blog about it unless that person asked me to do so because it’s not my business to share. You should always respect the privacy of your family because it is crossing boundaries when you blog about someone else’s health and most of my family life is private. You should never share personal details about family members for content because some people may not want their health online and you should respect that. Blogging about the health of family members may upset them and they demand you remove the post making it so you have none which is completely avoidable.
What alarm system I use- I have briefly mentioned that I have an alarm system for my home but never will you see me write about what company we use because it’s a security risk. You should never tell people what alarm system you have because it tells people what company they are up against if they were considering breaking into your home. Some criminals know how to hack different alarm systems and when you tell people what security company you use it makes it infinitely easier. When you tell people what security company you use you might as well get a banner that says “Come burglarize me” because the only people who need to know any kind of information about your alarm are people who live in the home.
When you are home alone- I create my best content when I am home alone and do not have distractions and it is okay to create content when you are home alone. You should never publicly state that you are home alone because you never know who is reading your posts and watching your house waiting for people to leave. As a disabled person, I especially do not share when I am home alone because I am more vulnerable and can be easily over-powered. If I am having surgery a lot of the time people know I am not home because they will see photos I post but even though I am not home that doesn’t mean my house is vacant because most times it isn’t. When I go on vacation a lot of the time I may write about traveling hacks but never will you see me share the exact dates of my trip because people do not need to know that. You should never share that you are home alone because it can put you at a huge security risk.
When you are a content creator it is so important that you think about what types of things you are going to share publicly and what you are not. You can be open about your health issues and not share everything about your life and there are some things that you should not share on the Internet. As a content creator, I think it’s so important to not overshare because some things should be kept private and when it appears you don’t have boundaries people will take advantage of you and ask personal questions they shouldn’t be asking. It is okay if your readers do not know everything about you because what you share is your choice. You don’t have to blog about every health challenge and it’s okay to leave some things out if it makes you uncomfortable. What things do you not share online? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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My Rockin Disabled Life 
Good reminders, Sarah.
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