Thoughts On Staying Private in a Social Media World

This blog is currently not linked to my real name. When I first set it up, I wasn't sure where I was going to take it (and I'm still not sure where I am headed), so I didn't tell anyone I know about. Even now, only one IRL friend has ever seen this blog. But while I have so carefully tried to keep my real life separate from here, so many of the bloggers that I follow do use their real names. I am beginning to wonder if that is something that I should do as well.

We are definitely in a social media world, even more so than just a few years ago. And as life gets increasingly more public, I'm finding it hard to navigate the world that I have set up.

I am not good at Facebook. I have created a Facebook page for this blog, but I am not very good at keeping it updated and have not been able to grow it at all. I am trying to be better, but with no interaction, I am not as motivated to update. Although, I am sure that a big part of the problem is that I'm not updating.

I have also created a Google+ page because I was trying to keep my personal page separate, but now I'm not sure that was the best option. It seems that most people link to their personal page.

I'm late to the Bloglovin train, but I have signed up. I'm still working on figuring that one out.

And Twitter. I am the worst at Twitter. Mostly because I refuse to put it on my phone, since I know that I would just check it all day long, and I have children to raise.

I seem to barely have the time to use social media for personal use, I am clearly no good at using it for this blog. Part of the problem for me is that I am not always telling stories that are mine to share. Do I use my real name, and forever tie these stories to my family? I have to admit that I have been tempted, but I'm not sure that I am ready to take that step. How do you handle social media? Do you use your real name, or are you attempting to be anonymous?

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