Unintended Consequences of Blogging

Being a blogger is interesting. You never know who is reading. This blog used to be called, “FH1100 Pilot.” I’ve since changed that to the current name. Ostensibly, you’d think that the primary subject matter would be about, well, it should be obvious. Truth is, I write about a lot of things other than flying. Like music and stuff. Sometimes I name names.

I have been emailed on three separate occasions by people I’ve written about. Out of the blue! These are people, by the way, who are in no way connected with helicopters or even aviation in general. One was an ad-agency guy in NYC, one was the author of a book and one was a member of an ‘80s rock band. I wondered how on earth people like that would “stumble across” what I wrote? The emails always start off the same way: “I read your blog and…” And I think to myself, why were you reading it in the first place?

It finally dawned on me that people “google” themselves. I was amused at first – the thought of someone sitting down at their computer and typing in their own name just to see where on the internets it might be mentioned. Personally, it never occurred to me to do that. I’ve led a fairly unremarkable life. I’m no celebrity (except in my own mind) but I have been posting on various internet usenets and newsgroups as myself for over ten years. So I know there’s tons of stuff with my name on it. I’d never thought about what else might be out there. And truthfully, I don’t care. But someone (David from the Whole Lotta Nada blog) suggested I do it and so I did. No surprises.

But David’s suggestion and those three unsolicited emails point out something that I think we should all be aware of: Everything you do online is recorded somewhere. If you put your name on an internet entry, it will be google-able, possibly forever. So bloggers need to be cognizant if not careful about what they write. Things do come back to haunt.

Just recently, I wrote some uncomplimentary things about a certain music reviewer for a certain music magazine. I would not be surprised to get an email from him soon. Then again, I've also written about Sir Paul McCartney; wouldn't it be neat to get an email from him!