1. They will possibly misconstrue something you write to mean something you didn’t intend, and then bring it up through email or phone call or even at the next family dinner.

2. Because of the age difference, they may not understand the context of what you’re talking about.

3. Just because something happens to almost everyone doesn’t mean it should be shared with family. Hey, everyone had a bad hook-up in college, but writing about doesn’t score you any points with Aunt Ida, the fundamentalist.

4. In all likelihood, your content is not meant for an audience that includes your family. Sometimes we write about things that are geared towards specific types (i.e. gamers, guys, comic book fans etc.) that allow for a certain tone of writing you wouldn’t use with your family.

5. They don’t get it. It’s really that simple. Most likely, whatever you’re all about your family just won’t understand through the medium of your blog. Face to face, telephone, maybe even email. But blogging. It’s like Greek to them. Even some of the best bloggers out there get misunderstood sometimes.

6. Knowing all the things above will hurt your creative drive. You’ll always be thinking, “Is this something I want my family to see?” “Will they understand the nuance of this?”

Family is great through email, but they really don’t belong in your blogosphere unless you’re writing stuff that’s totally squeaky clean.

Thanks for the response! Excellent thoughts! I too use facebook as a based for conversational ideas when in the early stages of a relationship. I’ve also found it to be a wonderful way to pre-screen people with very different priorities than my own.

In respect to my parents – I’m definitely very lucky. The opportunity to work with my parents, exchange ideas, and exchange thoughts has been instrumental in not only allowing me to chase and attain my dreams, but also to re-define them.

I absolutely agree. I don’t have a similar experience where I have known a person very well just to find out that I was wrong about a few facts in their life. However, it has happened to me numerous times that the information I received on Facebook was not intimate but was personal and this helped me forge a significant connection with somebody else. These informations are something that would never come up in a casual conversation (Favorite quotes for instance. They would be a great idea for conversation but how often does it come up when you meet somebody?) but would help forge a deeper and more meaningful relationship because it is more relevant to the person you are speaking to.

PS: I admire the relationship you have with your parents. I wish I had that too.