(short version of OP at bottom of post in bold)
I have a thing. The thing is that I enjoy blogging but almost always end up deleting the whole blog out of paranoia that it’s all too personal - not necessarily that I don’t want people reading it now, but that I don’t really want it showing up eight years later when some prospective employer runs a search on my name or something.
Logically, then, I should choose a username which doesn’t reflect my real-life name. But how far would you suggest I go with this? Much of what I like about blogging is that personal side. I would like to link to pictures of my family but I hear many people are equally paranoid about posting pictures of their children on the net, too. Should I be? Not paranoid, but… should I be concerned? Should I NOT link to a bunch of family shots? Should I not link to my Dope account or reveal other such board usernames? What are the odds of some unhinged maniac computer genius coming across my webshots account, working out by mysterious backwards linking that it’s linked to by a weblog, then tracking me down by analysing the address of the uploaded avatar image and finding me and for some reason chopping me into tiny pieces and such? How much might I eventually regret my online lives - will I realise in 2033 that I may never be President if the opposing party gets its hands on stuff I posted on a newsgroup in 1997?
Probably the danger isn’t that big. But my real question is "how careful are you with what you put online, and how many safeguards are wise without being cripplingly paranoid?"
I thank you.