My Bali life

I thought that I may as well be the first one who makes a blog post. Miso asked what's the difference between a [URL="http://balipod.com/read-me-1st-f36/how-use-blogs-t4161.html"]blog and a forum post[/URL].

On a forum like this, I don't think there will ever be a clear distinction. I think the reason why a person will want to write a blog post here is that they want to write something a little more personal.

Jim and Bert both kept blogs here on the site and I found them useful and interesting to read when I was thinking of moving here. Bert had some interesting stories about his life here and the people he met and Jim talked about his retirement plans.

I have been blogging on various different domains and sites for a few years now. I suppose some people find it "geeky" and other people wonder why you feel the need to tell the world about your life. Personally I have found it pretty rewarding and it really is quite amazing to read what you wrote a few years ago. You get the feeling "did I really write that?".

How much you write about your personal life though is something you need to consider. I would prefer not to write too much about my private life. You can never really be sure how your writing is interpreted by other people. With sites like Facebook however and how much we personal data we are trusting to Google, I think we are losing some kind of control over our privacy. Even if you aren't into technology, [URL="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2350771.ece"]Google Street view[/URL] could capture you doing something embarassing.

There are control settings for the blogging feature for you to control who has access to it and who can comment. I know some people have said the have no interest in writing a blog or reading anyone else's blog, but I am hoping that at least some people will find it interesting.