Picture from here
First and foremost I don’t believe there is such a thing as sharing too much information. That being said I want to control what I share, I also want to be aware of what is being seen, searched, and digested. I will happily write about anything and everything in my life, even to the annoyance of friends, family, and of course readers who have to put up with my inanity.
I dislike however background checks, interview questions that deal with your personal life outside of work, and assumptions based on the findings of those two things. What I do outside of work as long as it’s not illegal is none of our business. It is my life and if it has no bearing on our company or business sector, then buzz of. If you are so concerned about it subscribe to my RSS feed, I’m sure something on that subject will eventually arise.
During background checks I’ve been ask who my neighbors are. I don’t know I’m not the neighborly type. I don’t hang outside with a beer and play the “get to the know the neighbors routine” – just because they live in a geographic location adjacent to me doesn’t mean I want to know or hang out with them. I’m a picky person on who I waste me time. The ones that I do waste time with have some degree of amusement or I gain something from it. My neighbors are not these people. The simple answer is that maybe if I got to know them they would be. That’s the rub and catch-22 now isn’t it.
The reason I’m writing about this is the fact I was talking about a background check with someone via e-mail the other day and she said that I shouldn’t worry about it, that her life is more interesting then mine. She may be right. That’s the not the point, I’m pretty in control and aware of what I write online, how I share, and how it’s reused. Check out my lifestream page for m activities pulled and duplicated from many different services. I spread my dataphonic seed across the blogosphere.
I’m aware and to an extent I’m in control. It’s when information is forced from me in which I take issue with and will clam up.